Abstract

Complex spatio-temporal patterns in the transverse near-field output intensity of free-running broad-area semiconductor lasers have recently been theoretically predicted [1] and experimentally observed [2], They have been identified as being a result of the combined effects of self-focusing, filamentation and transverse modulational instabilities. Unstable filaments inside these lasers propagate in the form of a transversely structured high-intensity front [1].

© 1996 Optical Society of America