Self-focusing effects in a bistable semiconductor interferometer

An investigation is reported of transverse effects associated with the diffraction of light and with the diffusion of electrons and holes in a bistable semiconductor Fabry–Perot interferometer with a carrier-density optical nonlinearity mechanism. An analysis is made of instabilities of this system resulting in stratification of the small-scale self-focusing type and in homogeneous self-oscillations. A numerical experiment is reported on the dynamics of formation of carrier-density–optical layers and pulsations of their shape when the interferometer is pumped by a plane wave and by a Gaussian beam.