title: Response of laser-localized structures to external perturbations in coupled semiconductor microcavities.
abstract: Laser-localized structures have been observed in several experiments based on broad-area semiconductor lasers. They appear as bounded regions of laser light emission which can exist independently of each other and are expected to be commuted via external optical perturbations. In this work, we perform a statistical analysis of time-resolved commutation experiments in a system of coupled lasers and show the role of wavelength, polarization and pulse energy in the switching process. Furthermore, we also analyse the response of the system outside of the stability region of laser-localized states in search of an excitable response. We observe not only a threshold separating two types of responses, but also a strong variability in the system's trajectory when returning to the initial stable fixed point.
authors.affiliation: Université de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, 1361 route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turconi
authors.affiliation: Université de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, 1361 route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giudici
authors.affiliation: Université de Nice, CNRS UMR 7335, Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, 1361 route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France stephane.barland@inln.cnrs.fr.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barland
keywords: commutation; excitability; localized structures; semiconductor laser