Abstract

We present a new type of spatial solitons, which are due to the photorefractive (PR) effect of a medium⁽¹⁾. The shape of the soliton beam modulates the refractive index via the PR effect, which results in an exact compensation for the effects of diffraction, and causes the light beam to propagate with an unvarying profile. This index modulation is represented as a distribution of index gratings, each induced by the interference between two spatial (frequency) plane wave components of the light beam. Since the efficiency of this effect is independent of the absolute light intensity, these new solitons can be generated at very moderate light intensities. Moreover, a given soliton waveform can propagate unchanged in the medium, at very high or very low light intensities (and at all levels in between).

© 1992 Optical Society of America