Taming of Modulation Instability by Spatio-Temporal Modulation of the Potential

Spontaneous pattern formation in a variety of spatially extended nonlinear system always occurs through a modulation instability: homogeneous state of the system becomes unstable with respect to growing modulation modes. Therefore, the manipulation of the modulation instability is of primary importance in controlling and manipulating the character of spatial patterns initiated by that instability. We show that the spatio-temporal periodic modulation of the potential of the spatially extended system results in a modification of its pattern forming instability. Depending on the modulation character the instability can be partially suppressed, can change its spectrum (for instance the long wave instability can transform into short wave instability), can split into two, or can be completely eliminated. The latter result is of especial practical interest, as can be used to stabilize the intrinsically unstable system. The result bears general character, as it is shown here on a universal model of Complex Ginzburg-Landau equations in one and two spatial dimension (and time). The physical mechanism of instability suppression can be applied to a variety of intrinsically unstable dissipative systems, like self-focusing lasers, reaction-diffusion systems, as well as in unstable conservative systems, like attractive Bose Einstein condensates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 supplementary video fil

Excitations in a non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate of exciton-polaritons

We have developed a mean-field model to describe the dynamics of a non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate of exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity. The spectrum of elementary excitations around the stationary state is analytically studied in different geometries. A diffusive behaviour of the Goldstone mode is found in the spatially homogeneous case and new features are predicted for the Josephson effect in a two-well geometry.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Introduction: Localized Structures in Dissipative Media: From Optics to Plant Ecology

Localised structures in dissipative appears in various fields of natural science such as biology, chemistry, plant ecology, optics and laser physics. The proposed theme issue is to gather specialists from various fields of non-linear science toward a cross-fertilisation among active areas of research. This is a cross-disciplinary area of research dominated by the nonlinear optics due to potential applications for all-optical control of light, optical storage, and information processing. This theme issue contains contributions from 18 active groups involved in localized structures field and have all made significant contributions in recent years.Comment: 14 pages, 0 figure, submitted to Phi. Trasaction Royal Societ

Regularization of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers emission by periodic non-Hermitian potentials

We propose a novel physical mechanism based on periodic non-Hermitian potentials to efficiently control the complex spatial dynamics of broad-area lasers, particularly in Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), achieving a stable emission of maximum brightness. Radially dephased periodic refractive index and gain-loss modulations accumulate the generated light from the entire active layer and concentrate it around the structure axis to emit narrow, bright beams. The effect is due to asymmetric-inward radial coupling between transverse modes, for particular phase differences of the refractive index and gain-loss modulations. Light is confined into a central beam with large intensity opening the path to design compact, bright and efficient broad-area light sources. We perform a comprehensive analysis to explore the maximum central intensity enhancement and concentration regimes. The study reveals that the optimum schemes are those holding unidirectional inward coupling but not fulfilling a perfect local PT-symmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Self collimation of ultrasound in a 3D sonic crystal

We present the experimental demonstration of self-collimation (subdiffractive propagation) of an ultrasonic beam inside a three-dimensional sonic crystal. The crystal is formed by two crossed steel cylinders structures in a woodpile-like geometry disposed in water. Measurements of the 3D field distribution show that a narrow beam which diffractively spreads in the absence of the sonic crystal is strongly collimated in propagation inside the crystal, demonstrating the 3D self-collimation effect.Comment: 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Self-Induced Faraday Instability Laser

We predict the onset of self-induced parametric or Faraday instabilities in a laser, spontaneously caused by the presence of pump depletion, which leads to a periodic gain landscape for light propagating in the cavity. As a result of the instability, continuous wave oscillation becomes unstable even in the normal dispersion regime of the cavity, and a periodic train of pulses with ultrahigh repetition rate is generated. Application to the case of Raman fiber lasers is described, in good quantitative agreement between our conceptual analysis and numerical modelin