First principle theory for cavity solitons in semiconductor microresonators

Cavity solitons are similar to spatial solitons, appearing as localized bright dots in the transverse intensity profile of the electromagnetic field, but they arise in dissipative systems. In this paper we consider a broad-area vertical-cavity semiconductor microresonator, driven by an external coherent field, at room temperature. The active material is constituted by a Multiple Quantum Well GaAs/AlGaAs structure (MQW). We present a set of nonlinear dynamical equations for the electric field and the carrier density valid for both a passive and an active (i.e. with population inversion) configuration. The complex nonlinear susceptibility is derived on the basis of a full many-body theory, with the Coulomb enhancement treated in the Padé approximation. The linear stability analysis of the homogeneous steady states is performed with a generalised approach, and numerical simulations demonstrating the existence of spatial patterns and cavity solitons in experimentally achievable parameter regions are given for the two configurations. Received 18 January 2001