Positioning cavity solitons with a phase mask

Nonlinear interaction between a coherent electric field and a semiconductor medium inside a high Fresnel number cavity may give rise to the formation of cavity solitons. It is theoretically predicted that the position of these structures, mutually independent and bistable, can be controlled by gradients in the injection beam. Using a liquid crystal light valve to spatially modulate the phase of a coherent beam injected into a broad area vertical cavity semiconductor laser, the authors create reconfigurable arrays of cavity solitons. Fast time scales associated with semiconductor lasers and plasticity of localized structures suggest their potential for optical data processing.