Steady-state vortex-screening solitons formed in biased photorefractive media

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.     

Solitary Wave Evolution of Optical Planar Vortices in Self-Defocusing Photorefractive Media

Solitary wave evolution of optical planar vortices in isotropie self-defoeusing photorefractive media is investigated in detail. We demonstrate that the formation of a planar vortex soliton intensively depends on the diameter and maximum intensity of the input vortex Seam. The exact solutions of planar vortex solitons are obtained due to the Petviashvili iteration method. It is found that, with the increasing soliton maximum intensity, the soliton core will be gradually diminished to a minimum value.     

Frequency-doubling in self-induced waveguides in lithium niobate

Efficient frequency-doubling is experimentally demonstrated in presence of beam self-trapping in congruent lithium niobate crystal. The self-trapping is induced by the generated second harmonic beam via photorefractive effect under an external applied field. The local space charge field distribution, formed by the second harmonic beam, is shown to efficiently trap both wavelengths. The dynamics of self-focusing is studied along with the power evolution of the second harmonic beam. Fast tuning of phase matching conditions in the written waveguide is realized by an externally applied voltage also used for the photorefractive confinement.     

The effect of total internal reflection of wave beams in nonlinear media

The recent papers that consider new effects attributed to the total refection of a weak beam at a more powerful beam with another frequency in nonlinear media are reviewed. As an example, the dynamics of the beam reflection in media with thermal nonlinearity and photorefractive crystals are analyzed.     

Dynamics of photorefractive response in sillenite crystals with double-ionized donor centers and shallow traps

The dynamics of the photorefractive response in the Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ crystal with double-ionized donor centers and shallow traps is analyzed. Consideration is given to the time dependences of the recording of a photorefractive grating in the absence of an external electric field, its storage in the dark, and its development upon the application of an external field and turning on of a reading light beam.     

Propagation of an Airy vortex beam in uniaxial crystals

The propagation dynamics of an Airy beam superimposed with a unit topological charge optical vortex is investigated analytically and numerically in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis. Upon propagation, the Airy vortex beam is mainly dependent on the ratio of the extraordinary refractive index to the ordinary refractive index. Due to the anisotropic effect of the crystals, the acceleration of an Airy vortex beam in the transversal direction along the optical axis is more rapidly than that in the other transversal direction, which is alike to a conventional Airy beam but with twice the vortex acceleration velocity.     

Collapse arrest in a two-dimensional Airy Gaussian beam and Airy Gaussian vortex beam in nonlocal nonlinear media

Propagation dynamics of a two-dimensional Airy Gaussian beam and Airy Gaussian vortex beam are investigated numerically in local and nonlocal nonlinear media. The self-healing and collapse of the beam crucially depend on the distribution factor b and the topological charge m. With the aid of nonlocality, a stable Airy Gaussian beam and an Airy Gaussian vortex beam with larger amplitude can be obtained, which always collapse in local nonlinear media. When the distribution factor b is large enough, the Airy Gaussian vortex beam will transfer into quasi-vortex solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media.     

Hybrid nonlinearity supported by nonconventionally biased photorefractive crystals

We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that a nonconventionally biased photorefractive crystal can support hybrid nonlinearity, i.e., coexistence of self-focusing and self-defocusing nonlinearities under an identical bias condition. It is revealed that the nonlinearity experienced by a one-dimensional (stripe) beam can be switched between self-focusing and self-defocusing solely by changing the beam orientation. For a two-dimensional beam, the hybrid nonlinearity leads to unusual nonlinear beam dynamics with enhanced anisotropy and nonlocality.     

Effects of the induced birefringence in photorefractive crystals on speckle optical vortices

In this work, we show that it is possible to change the properties of an optical vortex formed in a speckle pattern by the control of an external electric field applied to a sillenite-type photorefractive material in a non-holographic configuration. To show it, a scheme that allows the recovering of both, the polarization state and the phase distribution of an optical field was implemented. Changes in the polarization state of the light in the neighborhood of the vortex were observed with the application of an external electric field. Likewise, changes in the phase structure around the vortex and displacements of the vortices themselves were measured. These displacements have a fairly linear dependence on the applied field to the photorefractive crystal. Experimental results are qualitatively explained with the theoretical treatment of non-holographic recording in photorefractive crystals.     

Modification of Photorefractive Waveguides in Lithium Niobate by Guided Beam for Optical Dynamic Interconnection

We investigate experimentally and numerically a novel method of modifying photorefractive waveguides in a lithium niobate crystal by a guided beam. The guided beam with a strong optical power can change the refractive index of the photorefractive waveguide because of the photorefractive effect. The modification of waveguide structure can be utilized for optical dynamic interconnection. Changes of optical characteristics of a probe beam caused by a modification beam are investigated. Experimental results show that the transmitted power or the peak intensity of the probe beam decreases exponentially as a function of total exposure energy of the modification beam. We also numerically analyze the refractive index change caused by the modification beam in the photorefractive waveguide. The numerical results show good agreement with the experimental results.     

有偏压光折变晶体中的高斯孤子

利用变分方法求解了小光强光折变非线性薛定谔方程，得到了高斯光束在外加正偏压光折变晶体中的演化特性，以及高斯光束宽度压缩与展宽的动态振荡规律，给出了高斯光束的宽度、振幅和波前曲率的表达式，研究了势函数与光束宽度的关系.结果表明，小光强高斯光束在正偏压光折变晶体中传播时，其宽度和振幅将经历周期地变化或者展宽发散，在一定条件下高斯光束在晶体中可以形状不变地传播，形成“高斯孤子”，这些特性在工程实践中具有很高的实用价值. 关键词： 高斯孤子 高斯光束 变分方法 光折变非线性方程     

Effect of photoconductivity and dielectric constant of the photorefractive materials on two-beam coupling gain and phase-shifts for a single unidirectional photorefractive ring resonator

Photoconductive dependence of two-beam coupling between the pump beam and the signal beam in photorefractive materials have been analyzed in case of non-degenerate wave mixing under the undepleted pump approximation method. During the two-wave mixing in photorefractive materials, steady state amplification of the signal beam and oscillation characteristics of a single unidirectional ring resonator has been studied. The domination of the two-beam coupling gain over the combined absorption and resonator losses such as Fresnel reflections from the crystal and imperfect mirrors builds up unidirectional oscillation. The buildup of such an oscillation leads to a saturation of the gain, which can be explained in terms of the photorefractive phase-shift. The existence of this phase-shift between the photorefractive index grating and the illumination intensity pattern, which is of characteristic of the photorefractive effect, leads to an energy transfer between the two beams. For a single unidirectional ring resonators, the effects of photoconductivity of the materials, two-beam energy coupling coefficient, dielectric constant, crystal thickness, and material's absorption coefficient on amplification of the two-beam coupling gain and photorefractive phase-shifts of the signal beam have also been studied in detail. It has been found that amplification of the signal beam and phase-shift can be enhanced by taking the photorefractive crystal having higher photoconductivity and lower dielectric constant, which improves performance of the resonators.     

Feedback method of the noise suppression in wave-mixing amplifiers based on non-linear materials with photorefractive response in a reflection grating configuration

In the photorefractive wave-mixing system, fluctuation in the signal beam intensity of the photorefractive output with a reflection grating has been analyzed by employing pump feedback method. In this method, fluctuations of the photorefractive wave-mixing process not only induce the intensity fluctuation of the mixing waves but also induce phase fluctuation of the mixing waves. Thus, the phase of the pump and signal beams at the output surface fluctuates in time around a mean value. Using such a positive feedback method of a pump beams, the relative fluctuation in the photorefractive output signal beam intensity with respect to its mean intensity can be minimized significantly without reducing its mean intensity. The factors that control the fluctuation in the signal beam intensity, such as the phase fluctuation of the output pump beam, absorption strength of the material and the feedback reflectivity of the cavity mirrors, on the relative fluctuation of the output signal intensity in the photorefractive wave-mixing systems have been studied in detail. It has been found that the fluctuation of the output signal intensity relative to its mean intensity in the photorefractive wave-mixing system can be suppressed to larger extent by taking lower value of feedback reflectivity of the cavity mirrors which could exist at a higher value of absorption strength of the photorefractive materials.     

在局域非线性响应的光折变晶体中的对称光扇

在具有非局域非线性响应的所有光折变晶体中几乎都能观察到光折变光扇效应．最近我们在具有局域非线性响应的光折变晶体（LiNbO₃∶Fe）观察到对称光扇．基于前向简并三波作用，从理论上研究了这种对称光扇的形成 关键词：     

Effect of a DC external field on the photorefractive-response dynamics in crystals with double-donor centers and shallow traps

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the dynamics of space-charge field formation in a photorefractive crystal with double-donor centers and shallow traps. The evolution of the photorefractive-grating recording processes in the absence of an external electric field, the relaxation of the grating in the presence of a reference beam, and its subsequent development under application of an external field are considered.     

Stability of elliptic vortex solitons in anisotropic nonlocal media

Elliptic vortex solitons are investigated in anisotropic nonlocal media with more general formulations. We address the existence and dynamics of such solitons analytically and numerically. The solution of elliptic vortex solitons depends on the eccentricity of both the input beam and nonlocal response function. With different degrees of nonlocality, we numerically investigate the evolution of the elliptic vortex solitons, and find that, typically, the elliptic vortex solitons with single and double charges collapse into spiraling dipole- and tripolelike soliton clusters, respectively.     

Two-component coupled photovoltaic soliton pair in two-photon photorefractive materials under open circuit conditions

The existence and nonlinear dynamics of two-component incoherently coupled composite solitons in two-photon photorefractive materials under open circuit conditions have been investigated. In the steady-state regime, these incoherently coupled solitons can propagate in bright–dark, bright–bright and dark–dark configurations. These photovoltaic soliton families can be established provided that the carrier beams share the same polarization and wavelength. The influence of the gating beam on the dynamics of stable solitons is discussed. Numerical simulations show that these solitons are stable for small perturbation on amplitude.     

Propagation of Gaussian background vortex beams diffracted at a half-plane screen

Taking the Gaussian background vortex beam with topological charge +2 as a typical example, a closed-form expression for vortex Gaussian beams passing through a half-plane screen is derived and used to study the propagation dynamics of on-axis and off-axis vortex diffracted beams, and to compare with the case of the free-space propagation. It is shown that there may exist many phase singularities or no phase singularity of vortex diffracted Gaussian beams in the diffraction field. Number and position of phase singularities are dependent on the vortex position at the source plane and propagation distance. The creation, motion and annihilation of phase singularities in the diffraction field may appear by varying the vortex position and propagation distance.     

高斯光束在有外电场的双光子光伏光折变材料中的演化

为了得到一束高斯光束和两束高斯光束的相互作用在有外电场的双光子光伏光折变材料中的演化结果,将高斯光束作为入射波,采用数值方法求解波传播方程。研究结果表明:在外加电场、光强峰值分别与晶体参量匹配的情况下,一束高斯光束能演化为稳定的屏蔽光伏明孤子,而在不匹配时,一束高斯光束在传播过程中则呈现周期性压缩或膨胀现象。同时也发现:在作用距离范围内,同相位的两高斯光束相互吸引,并伴随有融合现象;而相位相反的两高斯光束相互排斥,且其排斥作用随着光束初始间距的减小而增加,当两高斯光束的相位差位于区间(0,π)和(-π,0)时,其相互作用过程中伴有能量的转移,两区间中能量转移方向相反。     

Effect of photoconductivity and oscillation frequency shift on the signal beam intensity in two beam coupling in photorefractive materials

A general theory of the two-beam coupling between a pump beam and a signal beam in photorefractive materials is presented. The coupled wave equations describing the non-linear two beam coupling are derived, based on Maxwell's wave equation. The coupled equation for the intensities of the two beams in the photorefractive crystals with the absorbing properties have been derived analytically. The intensity of the signal beam increases with the increasing crystal thickness, reaches a maximum and then decreases. The influence of energy beam coupling coefficient, oscillation frequency shift, crystal thickness, absorption coefficient and the input beam intensity ratio on the signal beam intensity have been studied in details. The effect of the photoconductivity of the materials on the intensities of the two beams in both the co-directional as well as contra-directional two beam coupling cases have been studied.