TY - JOUR AU - Assanto, Gaetano AU - Piccardi, Armando AU - Alberucci, Alessandro AU - Residori, Stefania AU - Bortolozzo, Umberto PY - 2009/12/31 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Liquid Crystal Light Valves: a versatile platform for Nematicons JF - Photonics Letters of Poland JA - Photonics Lett. Pol. VL - 1 IS - 4 SE - Articles DO - 10.4302/photon. lett. pl.v1i4.63 UR - https://www.photonics.pl/PLP/index.php/letters/article/view/1-51 SP - pp. 151-153 AB - We illustrate the generation and control of optical spatial solitary waves (nematicons) in liquid crystal light valves with nematic liquid crystals and a photoconductive layer. The latter allows to all-optically varying the birefringent walk-off and the extraordinary-wave refractive index, hence, the trajectory of a nematicon propagating in the thickness of the valve. <br /> <br />Full Text: <a class="file" href="/PLP/index.php/letters/article/view/1-51/53" target="_parent">PDF</a> <br /> <strong><br />References:</strong> <ol> <li> A. W. Snyder, D. J. Mitchell and F. Ladouceur, "Self-induced optical fibers: spatial solitary waves", Opt. Lett. 10, 21 (1991) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.16.000021">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> N. N. Akhmediev, "Spatial solitons in Kerr and Kerr-like media", Opt. Quantum Electron. 30, 535-540 (1998) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1006902715737">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> G. I. Stegeman and M. Segev, "Optical Spatial Solitons and Their Interactions: Universality and Diversity", Science 286, 1518 (1999) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.286.5444.1518">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> C. Conti and G. Assanto, in Encyclopedia of Modern Optics, Vol. 5, pp. 43-55, edited by R. D. Guenther, D. G. Steel and L. Bayvel, Elsevier (Oxford, 2004)</li> <li> M. Peccianti, C. Conti, G. Assanto, A. De Luca and C. Umeton, "Routing of anisotropic spatial solitons and modulational instability in liquid crystals", Nature 432, 733 (2004). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature03101">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> M. Peccianti, G. Assanto, A. Dyadyusha and M. Kaczmarek, "Tunable refraction and reflection of self-confined light beams", Nat. Phys. 2, 737 (2006). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys427">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> M. Peccianti, G. Assanto, A. Dyadyusha and M. Kaczmarek, "Nonspecular Total Internal Reflection of Spatial Solitons at the Interface between Highly Birefringent Media", Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 113902 (2007) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.113902">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> M. Peccianti, A. Dyadyusha, M. Kaczmarek, and G. Assanto, "Escaping Solitons from a Trapping Potential", Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 153902 (2008) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.153902">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> U. Bortolozzo, S. Residori and J. P. Huignard, "Beam coupling in photorefractive liquid crystal light valves", J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41, 224007 (2008) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/41/22/224007">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> U. Bortolozzo, S. Residori, A. Petrosyan, and J. P. Huignard, "Pattern formation and direct measurement of the spatial resolution in a photorefractive liquid crystal light valve", Opt. Commun. 263, 317 (2006). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2006.01.038">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> M. Peccianti and G. Assanto, "Observation of power-dependent walk-off via modulational instability in nematic liquid crystals", Opt. Lett. 30, 2290 (2005). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.30.002290">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> A. Piccardi, U. Bortolozzo, S. Residori and G. Assanto, "Spatial solitons in liquid-crystal light valves", Opt. Lett. 34, 737 (2009). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.34.000737">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> M. Peccianti, G. Assanto, A. De Luca, C. Umeton, I. C. Khoo, "Electrically assisted self-confinement and waveguiding in planar nematic liquid crystal cells", Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 7 (2000). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.126859">[CrossRef]</a> </li> <li> G. Assanto and M. Peccianti, "Guiding and Routing Light with Nematicons", Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 488, 163 (2008) <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15421400802240540">[CrossRef]</a> </li> </ol> ER -