Nonlinear Dynamics in Semiconductor Lasers - Abstract

Jimenez Garcia, Jesus

Observation of vortex localized structures in a VCSEL with feedback from a volume Bragg grating

We report on the formation of ring-shaped localized structures in addition to known spatial laser cavity solitons (LCS) in a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with frequency-selective feedback. As the injection current is increased, different scenarios are observed in which the LCS evolve from the fundamental soliton via multi-lobed and ring structures to more complex patterns. Interference measurements with a Mach?Zehnder interferometer prove that the ring-like structures contain a phase singularities in the center, i.e. they are localized vortices. Corresponding states were predicted in a simplified Ginzburg-Landau model with a linear filter [Opt. Exp. 18, 8859 (2010)]. We discuss their bistability and phase locking between a vortex and a fundamental soliton.