Phase-bistable patterns and cavity solitons induced by spatially periodic injection into vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Spatial rocking is a kind of resonant forcing able to convert a self-oscillatory system into a phase-bistable, pattern forming system, whereby the phase of the spatially averaged oscillation field locks to one of two values differing by pi. We propose the spatial rocking in an experimentally relevant system-the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)-and demonstrate its feasibility through analytical and numerical tools applied to a VCSEL model. We show phase bistability, spatial patterns, such as roll patterns, domain walls, and phase (dark-ring) solitons, which could be useful for optical information storage and processing purposes.