Optical pattern switching in semiconductor microresonators as all-optical switch

Abstract

In this paper, we present a spatial perturbation method to control the optical patterns in semiconductor microresonators in the far-field configuration. We propose a fast all-optical switch which operates at a low light level. The switching beam controls the behavior of output beams with strong intensities. The method has been applied successfully to different optical patterns such as rolls, squares, and hexagons.