Thermal and Orientational 2D+1 Spatial Optical Solitons in Dye Doped Liquid Crystals

Abstract

We investigated the behavior of a beam experiencing the Optical Freedericksz effect while traveling through a nematic liquid crystal confined in a capillary and doped with a dye. The source is a fiber that delivers a narrow and well collimated beam. For two ranges of input power the beam is no longer diverging nor focusing and it propagates straightly, over a long distance compared to the Rayleigh range of the initial beam. The transverse profile of these beams are studied and found to be constant. The collision behavior of these modes is reported. It is shown in this paper how all the experiments performed lead us to think in terms of spatial 2D+1 soliton.