Cavity solitons are localized structures which may form when an optical cavity filled with a nonlinear medium is shined by a coherent (holding) beam [1]. In broad area semiconductor systems, the existence and basic properties of CS have already been experimentally demonstrated [2]. However, despite considerable improvements in the growth process leading to much better long range homogeneity, the position of cavity solitons has always been strongly influenced by the residual imperfections of the nonlinear device. Since translation is a neutral mode for cavity solitons, they are theoretically expected to be (infinitely) sensitive to parameter gradients [1]. We show experimentally in a broad area vertical cavity surface emitting laser that phase and/or intensity gradients in the holding beam can be used to control the position of CS, overcoming to some extent the effects of device inhomogeneity. Complementarily, we show that confining CS in only one dimension of space while leaving them free in the other dimension allows to use CS as a probe for the homogeneity of their host structure.
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