Steady-state vortex-screening solitons formed in biased photorefractive media
Journal
Optics Letters
Journal Volume
22
Journal Issue
23
Pages
1751-1753
Date Issued
1997
Author(s)
Abstract
We report the observation of steady-state photorefractive vortex-screening solitons. As a singly charged circular vortex nested on a broad beam propagates through a biased strontium barium niobate crystal, it self-traps in both transverse dimensions despite the inherent anisotropy of the photorefractive nonlinearity. When the vortex beam is a doughnut-shaped narrow beam, it breaks up into two elongated slices (with a self-defocusing nonlinearity) or into two focused filaments (with a self-focusing nonlinearity). We demonstrate the optical guidance of a probe beam in a circular waveguide induced by the self-trapped vortex. © 1997 Optical Society of America.
Type
journal article