Dynamics of zigzag destabilized solitary stripes in a dc-driven pattern-forming semiconductor gas-discharge system

Zigzag destabilization of self-organized solitary stripes was detected recently in the current density of a planar semiconductor gas discharge system. In the present work it is revealed that this instability is accompanied by the propagation of the zigzag deformation along the body of a stripe. This phenomenon is quantitatively analyzed using a high-speed image acquisition technique based on a framing camera system. The velocity of propagation has been found to increase monotonously with the global electric current, while the characteristic wavelength of the pattern shows a complicated behavior. The connection of the obtained data to available results of theoretical analysis of secondary bifurcations of solitary stripes in reaction-diffusion media is considered.