Abstract
We have observed the spontaneous formation of transverse spatial patterns in a thin film of bacteriorhodopsin with a feedback mirror. Bacteriorhodopsin has a mixed absorptive – dispersive nonlinearity at the wavelength used in the experiments (633 nm). Threshold values of the incident intensity for observation of pattern formation are found from a linear stability analysis of a model that describes bacteriorhodopsin as a sluggish saturable nonlinear medium with a complex Kerr coefficient. The calculated threshold intensity is in good agreement with the experimental observations, and the patterns are predicted to be frequency offset from the pump radiation.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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