Open AccessUltrafast transverse undulation of self-trapped laser beams
Author(s) -
Simon-Pierre Gorza,
Marc Haelterman
Publication year - 2008
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.16.016935
Subject(s) - physics , optics , ultrashort pulse , instability , soliton , self phase modulation , dispersion (optics) , nonlinear schrödinger equation , transverse plane , self focusing , beam (structure) , planar , laser , nonlinear system , nonlinear optics , laser beams , quantum mechanics , computer graphics (images) , structural engineering , computer science , engineering
The propagation of a self-trapped laser beam in a planar waveguide that exhibits a Kerr nonlinearity and a normal chromatic dispersion is considered. We demonstrate experimentally for the first time to our knowledge that such a beam undergoes an undulation responsible for ultrafast transverse oscillations of its axis. This phenomenon, called ???snake instability???, was predicted theoretically in 1973 by Zakharov and Rubenchik on the basis of a study of the soliton solutions of the hyperbolic nonlinear Schr odinger equation. The signature of this instability is observed in the spatially resolved temporal spectrum.