Abstract
Two-dimensional metastable patterns can appear randomly across a broad laser beam profile in a passive optical ring cavity. The instability responsible for pattern formation is primarily modulational in nature, leading to a competitive interaction between strongly saturated solitary-wave ringlike and filamentary spatial structures. The complexity of pattern formation depends sensitively on saturated filament density, which can be conveniently controlled in an optical-feedback arrangement. Our preliminary computational results suggest that the instability domain can be partitioned into two general categories: (1) rapid modulational growth to a single stationary filament or a long-lived metastable pattern involving five filaments growing directly from a shelflike ridge about the central filament or (2) a significantly slower formation of localized filaments forming primarily from a slow modulational growth on fully developed saturated solitary-wave rings. One-dimensional computations with a retarded material response indicate that the general trend of unstable formation should be relatively insensitive to finite retardation effects.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1039-1044 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1990 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics