Pulsed nonlinear surface wavesand soliton emission at nonlinear graded index waveguides

Pulsed beam propagation at nonlinear ion-exchange waveguides has been analysed. Critical values of input power and film thickness to obtain emission and excitation of nonlinear surface pulses have been calculated by means of a variational approach in the dispersionless approximation. The analytical expressions obtained can be used as a qualitative guide for deeper computational exploration of the propagation problem and show a good agreement with the numerical simulations presented.