Three-dimensional structures in nonlinear cavities containing left-handed materials.
We study the coupling between negative diffraction and direct dispersion in a nonlinear ring cavity containing slabs of Kerr nonlinear right-handed and left-handed materials. Within the mean field approximation, we show that a portion of the homogeneous response curve is affected by a three-dimensional modulational instability. We show numerically that the light distribution evolves through a sequence of three-dimensional dissipative structures with different lattice symmetry. These structures are unstable with respect to the upswitching process, leading to a premature transition to the upper branch in the homogeneous hysteresis cycle.
Tassin
Philippe
P
Van der Sande
Guy
G
Veretenov
Nikolay
N
Kockaert
Pascal
P
Veretennicoff
Irina
I
Tlidi
Mustapha
M