Abstract

Stable two-dimensional spatial solitons are among the most interesting spatiotemporal structures in nonlinear optics. If robust they could act as "bits" for parallel information storage and processing. Unfortunately, in the two transverse dimensional (2D) nonlinear Schroe dinger equation (NLS) such "solitons" are unstable, collapsing to a singularity.¹ Here we present analytic and numerical evidence for the existence of stable 2D localized states in a driven optical cavity containing a saturable absorber. In transmission these would appear as transparent disks on an absorbing background, formed by aiming a short pulse of light at the target location: hence our term "optical bullet holes" (OBH). Unlike real bullet holes, OBH can be moved around, and we demonstrate a 2D OBH array memory with self-correction for misdirected address "bullets."

© 1996 Optical Society of America