Impact of nonlocal interactions in dissipative systems: towards minimal-sized localized structures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how linear nonlocality in an optical microresonator with metamaterials influences the size and stability of localized structures, revealing a new size limit beyond diffraction constraints.

Contribution

It demonstrates that nonlocal interactions impose a fundamental size limit on localized structures in dissipative optical systems, extending understanding of spatial pattern formation.

Findings

Nonlocality affects the existence and stability of localized structures.

A new size limit beyond the diffraction limit is identified.

Bifurcation analysis reveals the role of nonlocal response in structure size.

Abstract

In order to investigate the size limit on spatial localized structures in a nonlinear system, we explore the impact of linear nonlocality on their domains of existence and stability. Our system of choice is an optical microresonator containing an additional metamaterial layer in the cavity, allowing the nonlocal response of the material to become the dominating spatial process. In that case, our bifurcation analysis shows that this nonlocality imposes a new limit on the width of localized structures going beyond the traditional diffraction limit.