Topological solitons in active optical cavities: Fundamental properties and possible applications

Abstract

Fundamental properties of topological spatial solitons existing in active cavities with high (above 100) Fresnel numbers, laser and/or parametric amplification, and saturated absorber were numerically and experimentally studied. Writing and erasing of bi- and tristable laser solitons (fundamental solitons [1, 2] and vortex solitons [3]) using an external control light pulse were considered in various regions of the laser cross section. The existence of optical domain walls (separated phase domains which are in antiphase) in the form of expanding spiral waves and the localized domain soliton rotating about the Neel defect (in this connection, we called it the “Neel soliton”) in active cavities with mixed laser and parametric amplification was shown in a numerical experiment for the first time. We proposed potential possibilities of using topological solitons in optical data processing, storage, and transmission.