Abstract

The propagation of single and multiple vortices in both linear and nonlinear systems is of fundamental and practical interest in optics, and other areas of physics. We have experimentally demonstrated light-induced waveguiding and demodulation using optical vortex solitons (OVS). Pattern formations analogous to those found in fluids and superfluids (for example, the onset of turbulence) have also been found in numerical simulations. Although optical vortices are readily generated from scatterers or waveguides, especially when cylindrical or spherical symmetry exist, specified distributions are difficult to produce within a laser beam. In principle, however, any number of vortices may be placed within the beam at arbitrary positions.

© 1996 Optical Society of America