Propagation of spatial optical solitons in a dielectric with adjustable nonlinearity

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.023806· OSTI ID:21448570

Alberucci, A; Piccardi, A; Peccianti, M; Assanto, G ^[1]; Kaczmarek, M ^[2]

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1. Nonlinear Optics and OptoElectronics Laboratory (NooEL), University ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Rome (Italy)
2. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)

We investigate spatial optical solitons propagating in a medium with a saturable but adjustable nonlinearity and a fixed degree of nonlocality. We employ nematic liquid crystals in a planar cell with optical properties tuned by an external voltage and solitons excited in the near infrared. We also demonstrate soliton self-bending versus excitation due to nonlinear variations in walk-off. A theoretical model accounting for the longitudinal derivatives is employed to compute the refractive index distribution and is found in excellent agreement with the experimental data.

• OSTI ID: 21448570
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.023806; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
EXCITATION
LIQUID CRYSTALS
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SOLITONS
VARIATIONS
WAVE PROPAGATION
CRYSTALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
FLUIDS
INFRARED RADIATION
LIQUIDS
MATERIALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUASI PARTICLES
RADIATIONS