Spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals: from bulk to discrete

G. Assanto, A. Fratalocchi, and M. Peccianti

Opt. Express 15, 5248-5259 (2007)

Abstract:

We review theoretical and experimental results on spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystalline cells, including two-dimensional solitons in bulk and discrete solitons in one-dimensional waveguide arrays. In bulk we describe the propagation of continuous solitons in the presence of adjustable walk-off, their interaction with light-induced defects and refraction-reflection at a voltage-tunable interface. In optical lattices we address the transition from discrete diffraction to localization, as well as all-optical beam steering.