Open AccessSpatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals: from bulk to discrete
Author(s) -
Gaetano Assanto,
Andrea Fratalocchi,
Marco Peccianti
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.15.005248
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , optics , refraction , physics , diffraction , reflection (computer programming) , light beam , negative refraction , soliton , biaxial nematic , refractive index , waveguide , beam (structure) , materials science , condensed matter physics , nonlinear system , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
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.