  We experimentally investigate the interplay of Turing and Faraday
(modulational) instabilities in a bistable passive nonlinear resonator. The
Faraday branch is induced via parametric resonance owing to a periodic
modulation of the resonator dispersion. We show that the bistable switching
dynamics is dramatically affected by the competition between the two
instability mechanisms, which dictates two completely novel scenarios. At low
detunings from resonance switching occurs between the stable stationary lower
branch and the Faraday-unstable upper branch, whereas at high detunings we
observe the crossover between the Turing and Faraday periodic structures. The
results are well explained in terms of the universal Lugiato-Lefever model.

Optics;Pattern Formation and Solitons