Abstract

We consider a semiconductor etalon whose nonlinear refractive index depends both on the density of photo-excited carriers and temperature changes. These electronic and thermal nonlinearities have opposite signs and their competition gives rise to complex spatio-temporal dynamics for a suitable range of parameters and operating conditions. We explain theoretically and obtain numerically two types of oscillations, switching waves and kink solutions which typify many reaction-diffusion systems (RDS) such as ours.

© 1992 IQEC