Experimental demonstration of phase bistability in a broad area optical oscillator with injected signal

TL;DR

This paper experimentally demonstrates phase bistability in a broad area optical oscillator with structured injected signals, revealing two-phase patterns through spatial phase modulation.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of phase bistability in a broad area laser-like oscillator with structured injection, expanding understanding of pattern formation in optical systems.

Findings

Observation of two-phase patterns in the oscillator

Successful spatial phase modulation of injected signal

Confirmation of phase bistability in broad area optical systems

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that a broad area laser-like optical oscillator (a nondegenerate photorefractive oscillator) with structured injected signal displays two-phase patterns. The technique (G. J. de Valc\'arcel and K. Staliunas, Phys. Rev. Lett. (105), 054101 (2010)) consists in spatially modulating the injection, so that its phase alternates periodically between two opposite values, i.e. differing by pi