  Control of the motion of cavity solitons is one the central problems in
nonlinear optical pattern formation. We report on the impact of the phase of
the time-delayed optical feedback and carrier lifetime on the self-mobility of
localized structures of light in broad area semiconductor cavities. We show
both analytically and numerically that the feedback phase strongly affects the
drift instability threshold as well as the velocity of cavity soliton motion
above this threshold. In addition we demonstrate that non-instantaneous carrier
response in the semiconductor medium is responsible for the increase in
critical feedback rate corresponding to the drift instability.
