Nematic liquid crystals: An excellent playground for nonlocal nonlinear light localization in soft matter

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (04) ◽  
pp. 1450046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Alberucci ◽  
Gaetano Assanto ◽  
J. Michael L. MacNeil ◽  
Noel F. Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Solitary Waves ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Approximate Solutions ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Light Localization ◽  
Optical Spatial Solitons ◽  
Nonlocal Media ◽  
Nonlocal Nonlinear

The study of optical spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals (NLC) has greatly improved the understanding of light localization in reorientational nonlocal media. We report some of the latest progress with reference to bright and dark solitary waves in NLC, bright and dark nematicons, discussing models and methods for their description and simulation. We give an account of exact and approximate solutions, as well as nematicon bistability.

scholarly journals Three-color vector nematicon

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urszula Anna Laudyn ◽  
Michał Kwaśny ◽  
Mirosław Karpierz ◽  
Gaetano Assanto
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Solitary Waves ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Curvature Effects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Color Vector ◽  
Optical Spatial Solitons ◽  
Nonlocal Media

Light localization via reorientation in nematic liquid crystals supports multi-component optical spatial solitons, i.e., vector nematicons. By launching three optical beams of different wavelengths and the same input polarization in a bias-free planar cell, we demonstrate a three-color vector nematicon which is self-trapped thanks to its incoherent nature. Full Text: PDF ReferencesG. I. Stegeman and M. Segev, "Optical Spatial Solitons and Their Interactions: Universality and Diversity", Science 286 (5444), 1518 (1999) CrossRef W. Królikowski and O. Bang, "Solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media: Exact solutions", Phys. Rev. E 63, 016610 (2000) CrossRef D. Suter and T. Blasberg, "Stabilization of transverse solitary waves by a nonlocal response of the nonlinear medium", Phys. Rev. A 48, 4583 (1993) CrossRef G. Assanto and M. Peccianti, "Spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals", IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 39 (1), 13 (2003). CrossRef G. Assanto and M. Karpierz, "Nematicons: self-localised beams in nematic liquid crystals", Liq. Cryst. 36 (10), 1161 (2009) CrossRef M. Peccianti and G. Assanto, "Nematicons", Phys. Rep. 516, 147 (2012). CrossRef M. Peccianti and G. Assanto, "Incoherent spatial solitary waves in nematic liquid crystals", Opt. Lett. 26 (22), 1791 (2001) CrossRef M. Peccianti and G. Assanto, "Nematic liquid crystals: A suitable medium for self-confinement of coherent and incoherent light", Phys. Rev. E Rap. Commun. 65, 035603 (2002) CrossRef G. Assanto, M. Peccianti, C. Umeton, A. De Luca and I. C. Khoo, "Coherent and Incoherent Spatial Solitons in Bulk Nematic Liquid Crystals", Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 375, 617 (2002) CrossRef A. Alberucci, M. Peccianti, G. Assanto, A. Dyadyusha and M. Kaczmarek, "Two-Color Vector Solitons In Nonlocal Media", Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 153903 (2006) CrossRef G. Assanto, N. F. Smyth and A. L. Worthy, "Two-color, nonlocal vector solitary waves with angular momentum in nematic liquid crystals", Phys. Rev. A 78 (1), 013832 (2008) CrossRef G. Assanto, K. Garcia-Reimbert, A. A. Minzoni, N. F. Smyth and A. Worthy, "Lagrange solution for three wavelength solitary wave clusters in nematic liquid crystals", Physica D 240, 1213 (2011) CrossRef G. Assanto, A. A. Minzoni and N. F. Smyth, "Vortex confinement and bending with nonlocal solitons", Opt. Lett. 39 (3), 509 (2014) CrossRef G. Assanto, A. A. Minzoni and N. F. Smyth, "Deflection of nematicon-vortex vector solitons in liquid crystals", Phys. Rev. A 89, 013827 (2014) CrossRef G. Assanto and N. F. Smyth, "Soliton Aided Propagation and Routing of Vortex Beams in Nonlocal Media", J. Las. Opt. Photon. 1, 105 (2014) CrossRef Y. V. Izdebskaya, G. Assanto and W. Krolikowski, "Observation of stable-vector vortex solitons", Opt. Lett. 40 (17), 4182 (2015) CrossRef Y. V. Izdebskaya, W. Krolikowski, N. F. Smyth and G. Assanto, "Vortex stabilization by means of spatial solitons in nonlocal media", J. Opt. 18 (5), 054006 (2016) CrossRef J. F. Henninot, J. Blach and M. Warenghem, "Experimental study of the nonlocality of spatial optical solitons excited in nematic liquid crystal", J. Opt. A 9, 20 (2007) CrossRef Y. V. Izdebskaya, V. G. Shvedov, A. S. Desyatnikov, W. Z. Krolikowski, M. Belic, G. Assanto and Y. S. Kivshar, "Counterpropagating nematicons in bias-free liquid crystals", Opt. Express 18 (4), 3258 (2010) CrossRef N. Karimi, A. Alberucci, M. Virkki, M. Kauranen and G. Assanto, "Phase-front curvature effects on nematicon generation", J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 5 (33), 903 (2016) CrossRef P. G. de Gennes and J. Prost, The Physics of Liquid Crystals, Oxford Science Publications (Clarendon Press, 2nd edition, 1993)I. C. Khoo, Liquid Crystals: Physical Properties and Nonlinear Optical Phenomena (Wiley, New York, 1995)A. Piccardi, M. Trotta, M. Kwasny, A. Alberucci, R. Asquini, M. Karpierz, A. d'Alessandro and G. Assanto, "Trends and trade-offs in nematicon propagation", Appl. Phys. B 104 (4), 805 (2011) CrossRef M. Kwasny, U. A. Laudyn, F. A. Sala, A. Alberucci, M. A. Karpierz and G. Assanto, "Self-guided beams in low-birefringence nematic liquid crystals", Phys. Rev. A 86 (1), 01382 (2012) CrossRef M. Peccianti, A. Fratalocchi and G. Assanto, "Transverse dynamics of nematicons", Opt. Express 12 (26), 6524 (2004) CrossRef C. Conti, M. Peccianti and G. Assanto, "Observation of Optical Spatial Solitons in a Highly Nonlocal Medium", Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (11), 113902 (2004) CrossRef A. Alberucci, C.-P. Jisha and G. Assanto, "Breather solitons in highly nonlocal media", J. Opt. 18, 125501 (2016) CrossRef

Nematicons: Optical Spatial Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaetano Assanto ◽  
Marco Peccianti ◽  
Claudio Conti
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Optical Spatial Solitons

scholarly journals Interactions between strong nonlocal optical spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Yang Ping-Bao ◽  
Cao Long-Gui ◽  
Hu Wei ◽  
Zhu Ye-Qing ◽  
Guo Qi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Optical Spatial Solitons

scholarly journals Supermode spatial solitons via competing nonlocal nonlinearities

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Stanislaw Jung ◽  
Miroslaw Karpierz ◽  
Marek Trippenbach ◽  
Demetrios Christodoulides ◽  
Wieslaw Krolikowski
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Power Level ◽  
Optical Solitons ◽  
Spatial Soliton ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Quantum Electron ◽  
Spatial Optical Solitons ◽  
Nonlocal Nonlinearities

We study spatial soliton formation in a system with competing nonlinearities. In doing so, we consider a specific nonlinear response that involves both focusing and defocusing nonlocal contributions. We demonstrate that at a sufficiently high input power level, the interplay between these nonlocal nonlinearities may lead to the formation of in-phase, two-hump, fundamental spatial solitons. The conditions required for the existence of these two-peak spatial solitons are also presented. Full Text: PDF ReferencesG. Stegeman and M. Segev, "Optical Spatial Solitons and Their Interactions: Universality and Diversity", Science 286, 1518 (1999). CrossRef Y. Kivshar and G. P. Agrawal, Optical Solitons: From Fibers to Photonic Crystals (Academic, San Diego, 2003).P. Varatharajah et al., "Stationary nonlinear surface waves and their stability in diffusive Kerr media", Opt. Lett. 13, 690 (1988). CrossRef G. Assanto and M. Peccianti, "Spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 39, 13 (2003). CrossRef G. Assanto, ed. Nematicons: Spatial Optical Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals (Wiley, 2012). CrossRef O. Bang, W. Krolikowski, J. Wyller, J.J. Rasmussen, "Collapse arrest and soliton stabilization in nonlocal nonlinear media", Phys. Rev. E 66, 046619 (2002). CrossRef X. Hutsebaut, C. Cambournac, M. Haelterman, A. Adamski, K. Neyts, "Single-component higher-order mode solitons in liquid crystals," Opt. Commun. 333, 211 (2004). CrossRef C. Conti, M. Peccianti, and G. Assanto, "Route to nonlocality and observation of accessible solitons," Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 073901 (2003). CrossRef U. A. Laudyn, P. S. Jung, M.A. Karpierz, and G. Assanto, "Quasi two-dimensional astigmatic solitons in soft chiral metastructures," Sci. Rep. 6, 22923 (2016). CrossRef U. A. Laudyn, P. S. Jung, M. A. Karpierz, G. Assanto, "Power-induced evolution and increased dimensionality of nonlinear modes in reorientational soft matter," Opt. Lett. 39(22), 6399–6402 (2014). CrossRef Y. V. Izdebskaya, V. G. Shvedov, P. S. Jung, and W. Krolikowski, "Stable vortex soliton in nonlocal media with orientational nonlinearity," Opt. Lett. 43, 66-69 (2018) CrossRef P.S. Jung, W. Krolikowski, U.A. Laudyn, M. Trippenbach and M.A. Karpierz, "Supermode spatial optical solitons in liquid crystals with competing nonlinearities", Phys. Rev. A 95, 023820 (2017) CrossRef P.S. Jung, W. Krolikowski, U.A. Laudyn, M.A. Karpierz and M. Trippenbach, "Semi-analytical approach to supermode spatial solitons formation in nematic liquid crystals", Opt. Express 25, 23893 (2017) CrossRef S. Jungling and J. C. Chen, "A study and optimization of eigenmode calculations using the imaginary-distance beam-propagation method", IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 30, 2098 (1994). CrossRef P.S. Jung, K. Rutkowska and M.A. Karpierz, "Evanescent field boundary conditions for modelling of light propagation", Journal of Computational Science 25, 115 (2018) CrossRef A.A. Hardy, W. Streifer, "Coupled mode theory of parallel waveguides," IEEE J. Lightwave Techn. LT-3, 1135 (1985) CrossRef M. Matuszewski, B.A. Malomed, and M. Trippenbach, "Spontaneous symmetry breaking of solitons trapped in a double channel potential," Phys. Rev. A 75, 063621 (2007) CrossRef

scholarly journals Highly nonlocal optical response: Benefit or drawback?

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 1650043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel F. Smyth ◽  
Armando Piccardi ◽  
Alessandro Alberucci ◽  
Gaetano Assanto
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nonlinear Optics ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Optical Response ◽  
Light Localization ◽  
Spatial Domains ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

A highly nonlocal optical response in space has been shown to heal several shortcomings of beam self-action in nonlinear optics. At the same time, nonlocality is often connected to limits and constraints in both temporal and spatial domains. We provide a brief and rather subjective review of what we consider the main benefits and some drawbacks of a highly nonlocal response in light localization through nonlinear optics, with several examples related to reorientational soft matter, specifically nematic liquid crystals.

TRANSVERSE SELF-ACCELERATION OF NEMATICONS: CAN A SELF-CONFINED BEAM CHANGE ITS OWN PATH?

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
GAETANO ASSANTO ◽  
ALESSANDRO ALBERUCCI ◽  
ARMANDO PICCARDI
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Transverse Force ◽  
The Self ◽  
Spatial Solitons ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
All Optical ◽  
Optical Spatial Solitons

We report on power-dependent self-transverse acceleration of optical spatial solitons in two settings: pure nematic liquid crystals, where the self-steering is a consequence of all-optical reorientation through nonlinear changes in birefringent walk-off, and dye-doped nematic liquid crystals, where the guest-host interaction amplifies reorientation and enhances the transverse force acting on the soliton, thus changing its trajectory.

scholarly journals Emergence and stabilization of transient twisted defect structures in confined achiral liquid crystals at a phase transition.

Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose X Velez ◽  
Zhaofei Zheng ◽  
Daniel A. Beller ◽  
Francesca Serra
Keyword(s):  
Phase Transition ◽  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Capillary Tube ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Defect Structures

Spontaneous emergence of chirality is a pervasive theme in soft matter. We report a transient twist forming in achiral nematic liquid crystals confined to a capillary tube with square cross...

Incoherent spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.G. Makris ◽  
H. Sarkissian ◽  
D.N. Christodoulides ◽  
G. Assanto
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nematic Liquid Crystals ◽  
Spatial Solitons
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