Spontaneous formation of transverse patterns is ubiquitous in nonlinear dynamical systems of all kinds. An aspect of particular interest is the active control of such patterns. In nonlinear optical systems this can be used for all-optical switching with transistorlike performance, for example, realized with polaritons in a planar quantum-well semiconductor microcavity. Here we focus on a specific configuration which takes advantage of the intricate polarization dependencies in the interacting optically driven polariton system. Besides detailed numerical simulations of the coupled light-field exciton dynamics, in the present paper we focus on the derivation of a simplified population competition model giving detailed insight into the underlying mechanisms from a nonlinear dynamical systems perspective. We show that such a model takes the form of a generalized Lotka-Volterra system for two competing populations explicitly including a source term that enables external control. We present a comprehensive analysis of both the existence and stability of stationary states in the parameter space spanned by spatial anisotropy and external control strength. We also construct phase boundaries in nontrivial regions and characterize emerging bifurcations. The population competition model reproduces all key features of the switching observed in full numerical simulations of the rather complex semiconductor system and at the same time is simple enough for a fully analytical understanding.

• Received 15 July 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.101.012207