Intensity spiral patterns in a semiconductor microresonator

Spiral waves appear frequently in nature. They have been studied, e.g., in hydrodynamic systems, chemical reactions, and in a large variety of biological and physical systems [Grill et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3368 (1995); Goryachev and Kapral, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1619 (1996)]. In contrast to chemical and hydrodynamic processes where the field amplitude exhibits the spiral patterns (intensity spirals), in optics the spiral structures relate generally to the phase structure of the optical field (so-called 'optical vortices' [Lugiato et al., Adv. At., Mol., Opt. Phys. 40, 229 (1999); Arecchi et al., Phys. Rep. 318, 1 (1999); Weiss et al., Appl. Phys. B:Lasers Opt. B68, 151 (1999)]). Thus th…