Spatial rocking phenomenon in broad area semiconductor lasers

Abstract

The spatial ``rocking'' is a dynamical effect converting a phase-invariant oscillatory system into a phase-bistable one, where the average phase of the system locks to one of two values differing by $pi$. We demonstrate theoretically the spatial rocking in experimentally accessible and practically relevant systems -- the broad area semiconductor lasers. By numerical integration of the laser model equations we show the phase bistability of the optical fields and explore the bistability area in parameter space. We also predict the spatial patterns, such as phase domain walls and phase solitons, which are characteristic for the phase-bistable spatially extended pattern forming systems.