Abstract

The dynamics of spatial solitons in two transverse dimensions has recently become a topic of considerable interest[1]. The “extra” transverse dimensionality permits a greater degree of freedom in soliton behaviour, as seen in experiments demonstrating nonlinear rotation of optical vortex solitons in a self-defocusing medium[2]. In self-focusing media, the conservation of transverse angular momentum was shown to influence the dynamics of bright spatial solitons interaction[3]. The increased dimensionality also changes the stability properties of solitons from their counterpart solitons of a single transverse dimension. We report here on the first experimental investigation of instability associated with dark soliton stripe propagation through a saturable self-defocusing medium. These instabilities were shown to be an effective mechanism for the generation of optical vortex soliton pairs of opposite topological charge.

© 1996 Optical Society of America