Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Optics Express

Spatial semiconductor resonator solitons with optical pumping

Ye. Larionova, Carl O. Weiss

Published Jan 1, 2005• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the influence of pumping (i.e. population inversion) of the nonlinear material on the optical bistability of semiconductor microresonators, the reduction of sustaining power for bright and dark solitons by pumping, and the influence of pumping on dynamics of solitons and the background on which they exist. Reduction of soliton sustaining power by a factor of 300 is observed for dark solitons and the role played by material transparency and laser threshold is clarified.

DOI
10.1364/opex.13.010711

Related papers

Spatial solitons in a pumped semiconductor resonator

V. B. Taranenko, Carl O. Weiss, W. Stolz

Bright and dark spatial solitons are observed in an optically pumped semiconductor resonator. The pumping allows us to reduce considerably the light intensity necessary for the existence of the solitons and alleviates thermal load problems. Experiments are found to agree qualitatively with calculations based on a simple large-aperture semiconductor resonator model. The role of the signs of the absorptive and reactive nonlinearities in soliton existence is discussed in relation to the nonlinear resonance effect, the tilted-wave mechanism of pattern formation, and the sign of the population inversion.

arXiv:nlin/0105019•Optics Letters•Oct 15, 2001•26 citations

Spatial solitons in an optically pumped semiconductor microresonator

Ye. Larionova, Carl O. Weiss

Spatial solitons and structures in quantum well semiconductor microcavities are investigated with optical pumping. Dramatic reduction of light intensities supporting dark and bright solitons are found. Change of the nonlinearity sign at transparency is apparent

International Conference on Laser and Fiber-Optical Networks Modeling•Dec 22, 2005•0 citations

Spatial solitons in semiconductor microresonators

V. B. Taranenko, Carl O. Weiss

We describe experiments showing the existence of spatial solitons in semiconductor microresonators. We describe the manipulation of such solitons in view of technical applications: switching solitons on and off by coherent, as well as incoherent light, reducing the light power necessary to sustain and switch a soliton by optical pumping, and the limit in which independent solitons become so strongly bound that they form a coherent hexagonal pattern, marking the maximum information storage density.

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics•May 1, 2002•23 citations

Spatial Resonator Solitons Based on Different Semiconductor Nonlinearities

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Optical bistability and bright and dark resonator solitons exist in semiconductor resonator at room temperature [C.O. Weis and Ye. Larionova, Rep. Prog. Phys. 70 (2007) 255-335], with the usual semiconductor nonlinearity. At low temperature in the strong coupling regime between quantum well excitons and the optical field in a semiconductor microcavity the nonlinearities are strong and based on “polariton nonlinearity”. The strong coupling results in a quasi-particle “exciton-polariton” which gives access to positive and negative reactive and dissipative optical nonlinearities, as opposed to the usual room temperature semiconductor nonlinearities possessing essentially only one sign. The type of nonlinearity and the properties of solitons can be varied widely by the detuning between the photon- and exciton resonances. We show for the first time experimentally the existence of patterns, bright and dark solitons based on polariton nonlinearity. 1. INTRODUCTION Bright and dark spatial solitons were shown to exist in such microresonators with and without population inversion [1-3]. At room temperature the nonlinearity which is at the origin of the soliton existence is the usual mixed absorptive/refractive semiconductor nonlinearity which can have transverse effects (e.g. self-focusing) and longitudinal effects such as nonlinear resonance, both ingredients for soliton stability. At low temperature (or at large exciton binding energies) the exciton, which merges with the absorption band at room temperature, is well separated spectrally from the absorption band so that the nonlinearity becomes that of a 2-level system. If the exciton resonance is strongly coupled with the field inside a resonator the exciton- and the photon resonances mix. At coincidence of the two resonance frequencies, the photon- and the exciton resonances hybridize in an avoided crossing and the two hybrid resonances are ascribed to a quasi-particle, the excitonpolariton. This quasi-particle has unusual optical properties. E.g. is the photon nonlinearity determined by exciton collisions. That the exciton-polariton system has interesting nonlinearities (e.g. induced absorption as opposed to the usual saturable absorption) has been shown previously [4]. It was realized that semiconductor microresonators in the strong field-exciton coupling regime might show optical bistability and first experimental proofs for bistability were given recently [5]. As optical bistability of a resonator is a precondition for the existence of spatial resonator solitons, the question arises whether semiconductor microresonators with polariton nonlinearity can support spatial resonator solitons, which, as a consequence of the large nonlinearity of the polaritons, could be expected to exist at rather small light intensities, as it is of importance for all applications. 2. EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT AND RESULTS The cooled resonator sample (4 K) is illuminated by light at the polariton resonance wavelengths, and the light reflected from the resonator is observed. The light source is a Ar

•Jan 1, 2007•0 citations

Optical bistability and spatial resonator solitons based on exciton-polariton nonlinearity

Ye. Larionova, W. Stolz, Carl O. Weiss

We show experimentally optical bistability and the existence of bright and dark resonator solitons in the strong coupling regime between quantum-well excitons and the optical field in a semiconductor microcavity. The strong coupling results in a quasi-particle exciton-polariton, which gives access to positive and negative reactive and dissipative optical nonlinearities, as opposed to the usual room temperature semiconductor nonlinearities possessing essentially only one sign. The existence range and the properties of solitons can be varied widely by the detuning between polariton states and light frequency.

Optics Letters•Feb 6, 2008•39 citations

Cavity solitons in semiconductor resonators: role of many-particle effects

Dirk Michaelis, Ulf Peschel, F. Lederer

Summary form only given. Owing to their robustness and potential applications in all-optical information transmission, processing, and storage schemes, there is growing interest in optical solitons. Recently, it was shown that bright solitons can exist in semiconductor Fabry-Perot resonators at accessible power levels. These cavity solitons or soliton pixels may serve as basic units in information storage systems because they can be easily and individually set and erased. In previous studies, it was assumed that the photon energy is near the exciton resonance. For these energy levels and high carrier densities, an effective two-level system approach that relates the complex susceptibility changes linearly to the carrier density is appropriate. If one reduces the photon energy further, many-particle effects come into play, and the linear dependence ceases to hold. In this work, we use an appropriate, phenomenological material model that accounts for all prominent many-particle effects such as exciton formation, screening, gap renormalization, and band filling. It turns out that the diversity of soliton structures is richer than previously demonstrated.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 1998•0 citations
We investigate the influence of pumping (i.e. population inversion) of the nonlinear material on the optical bistability of semiconductor microresonators, the reduction of sustaining power for bright and dark solitons by pumping, and the influence of pumping on dynamics of solitons and the background on which they exist. Reduction of soliton sustaining power by a factor of 300 is observed for dark solitons and the role played by material transparency and laser threshold is clarified.
Bright and dark spatial solitons are observed in an optically pumped semiconductor resonator. The pumping allows us to reduce considerably the light intensity necessary for the existence of the solitons and alleviates thermal load problems. Experiments are found to agree qualitatively with calculations based on a simple large-aperture semiconductor resonator model. The role of the signs of the absorptive and reactive nonlinearities in soliton existence is discussed in relation to the nonlinear resonance effect, the tilted-wave mechanism of pattern formation, and the sign of the population inversion.
We describe experiments showing the existence of spatial solitons in semiconductor microresonators. We describe the manipulation of such solitons in view of technical applications: switching solitons on and off by coherent, as well as incoherent light, reducing the light power necessary to sustain and switch a soliton by optical pumping, and the limit in which independent solitons become so strongly bound that they form a coherent hexagonal pattern, marking the maximum information storage density.
Optical bistability and bright and dark resonator solitons exist in semiconductor resonator at room temperature [C.O. Weis and Ye. Larionova, Rep. Prog. Phys. 70 (2007) 255-335], with the usual semiconductor nonlinearity. At low temperature in the strong coupling regime between quantum well excitons and the optical field in a semiconductor microcavity the nonlinearities are strong and based on “polariton nonlinearity”. The strong coupling results in a quasi-particle “exciton-polariton” which gives access to positive and negative reactive and dissipative optical nonlinearities, as opposed to the usual room temperature semiconductor nonlinearities possessing essentially only one sign. The type of nonlinearity and the properties of solitons can be varied widely by the detuning between the photon- and exciton resonances. We show for the first time experimentally the existence of patterns, bright and dark solitons based on polariton nonlinearity. 1. INTRODUCTION Bright and dark spatial solitons were shown to exist in such microresonators with and without population inversion [1-3]. At room temperature the nonlinearity which is at the origin of the soliton existence is the usual mixed absorptive/refractive semiconductor nonlinearity which can have transverse effects (e.g. self-focusing) and longitudinal effects such as nonlinear resonance, both ingredients for soliton stability. At low temperature (or at large exciton binding energies) the exciton, which merges with the absorption band at room temperature, is well separated spectrally from the absorption band so that the nonlinearity becomes that of a 2-level system. If the exciton resonance is strongly coupled with the field inside a resonator the exciton- and the photon resonances mix. At coincidence of the two resonance frequencies, the photon- and the exciton resonances hybridize in an avoided crossing and the two hybrid resonances are ascribed to a quasi-particle, the excitonpolariton. This quasi-particle has unusual optical properties. E.g. is the photon nonlinearity determined by exciton collisions. That the exciton-polariton system has interesting nonlinearities (e.g. induced absorption as opposed to the usual saturable absorption) has been shown previously [4]. It was realized that semiconductor microresonators in the strong field-exciton coupling regime might show optical bistability and first experimental proofs for bistability were given recently [5]. As optical bistability of a resonator is a precondition for the existence of spatial resonator solitons, the question arises whether semiconductor microresonators with polariton nonlinearity can support spatial resonator solitons, which, as a consequence of the large nonlinearity of the polaritons, could be expected to exist at rather small light intensities, as it is of importance for all applications. 2. EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT AND RESULTS The cooled resonator sample (4 K) is illuminated by light at the polariton resonance wavelengths, and the light reflected from the resonator is observed. The light source is a Ar
We show experimentally optical bistability and the existence of bright and dark resonator solitons in the strong coupling regime between quantum-well excitons and the optical field in a semiconductor microcavity. The strong coupling results in a quasi-particle exciton-polariton, which gives access to positive and negative reactive and dissipative optical nonlinearities, as opposed to the usual room temperature semiconductor nonlinearities possessing essentially only one sign. The existence range and the properties of solitons can be varied widely by the detuning between polariton states and light frequency.
Summary form only given. Owing to their robustness and potential applications in all-optical information transmission, processing, and storage schemes, there is growing interest in optical solitons. Recently, it was shown that bright solitons can exist in semiconductor Fabry-Perot resonators at accessible power levels. These cavity solitons or soliton pixels may serve as basic units in information storage systems because they can be easily and individually set and erased. In previous studies, it was assumed that the photon energy is near the exciton resonance. For these energy levels and high carrier densities, an effective two-level system approach that relates the complex susceptibility changes linearly to the carrier density is appropriate. If one reduces the photon energy further, many-particle effects come into play, and the linear dependence ceases to hold. In this work, we use an appropriate, phenomenological material model that accounts for all prominent many-particle effects such as exciton formation, screening, gap renormalization, and band filling. It turns out that the diversity of soliton structures is richer than previously demonstrated.