Bifurcations and edge oscillations in the semiconductor Fabry-Perot interferometer

We show how spatially inhomogeneous pumping generates edge oscillations in a model of photoexcited carrier density and temperature in the cavity of a semiconductor Fabry-Perot interferometer. Two bifurcation mechanisms that destabilize standing pulses are found. Under the simplification of homogeneous pumping, one yields traveling pulses while the other is a pitchfork of standing pulses. Restoring inhomogeneous pumping converts both to Hopf bifurcations, producing in-phase and out-of-phase edge oscillations. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.