Discrete propagation and spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals
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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Preparation of Liquid Crystal Networks for Macroscopic Oscillatory Motion Induced by Light
Published on: September 20, 2017
Andrea Fratalocchi1, Gaetano Assanto, Kasia A Brzdakiewicz
1Nonlinear Optics and Optoelectronics Laboratory, Italian Institute for the Physics of Matter, Università Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
We investigate, for the first time to our knowledge, the discrete propagation of near-infrared light in a voltage-controlled array of channel waveguides in undoped nematic liquid crystals under planar anchoring conditions. This novel geometry enables us to drive the system from one-dimensional bulk diffraction to discrete propagation and, for larger excitations, to discrete spatial solitons, or nematicons. The observed phenomena are adequately described by a scalar model that encompasses the voltage-dependent reorientational response of the material.
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