Cavity solitons in passive bulk semiconductor microcavities. II. Dynamicalproperties and control

We analyze numerically the microscopic model formulated in a companion pape r [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16, 2083 (1999)] to describe an externally driven bro ad-area bulk GaAs microcavity. We numerically predict the formation of patt erns in the transverse profile of the output held. In particular, we find t he existence of stable cavity solitons, which appear as self-organized ligh t peaks embedded in a homogeneous background. We study the characteristics of such structures and specifically the possibility of switching them on an d off at desired locations in the transverse field profile. Moreover, we an alyze the interaction properties of cavity solitons with the purpose of app lying them, in the future, to optical information treatment. Finally, we st udy the dynamical properties of cavity solitons, quantitatively evaluating the motion across the transverse plane induced by spatial gradients in the input beld profile. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(99)0111 1-X].