Drift-induced excitable localized states.
Excitable localized states, spatial structures which possess both the features of temporal excitable pulses and of transverse cavity solitons, have been theoretically predicted in model systems as single pulses of light localized in space with a finite and deterministic duration. We study experimentally the nucleation of laser localized structures on a device defect and its motion along a spatial gradient. We demonstrate that in the reference frame of the drifting localized structure, the resulting dynamics presents the typical features of excitable systems. In particular, for specific parameter values, we observe that the nucleation of laser localized structures is triggered by noise, while the drift of the localized structure up to a spatial region where it vanishes provides the deterministic orbit which brings the system back to its initial rest state. The control of such structures may open the way to novel applications of localized structures beyond that of simple stationary bits.
Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Institut Non-Linéaire de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, 06560 Valbonne, France.
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M
Turconi
Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Institut Non-Linéaire de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, 06560 Valbonne, France.
M
M
Giudici
Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Institut Non-Linéaire de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, 06560 Valbonne, France.
S
S
Barland