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Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light
Published on: July 29, 2013
Optical spatial solitons and modulation instabilities in transparent entangled polymer solutions.
Manos Anyfantakis1, Benoit Loppinet, George Fytas
1Foundation for Research and Technology of Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion Crete, Greece.
Optics Letters
|November 28, 2008
Summary
Transparent polydiene solutions show optical nonlinearities and form spatial solitons when exposed to visible laser light. Filament arrays indicate modulational instabilities, though the nonlinearity
Area of Science:
- Nonlinear Optics
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- Transparent polymer solutions are investigated for their optical properties.
- Understanding optical nonlinearities is crucial for advanced photonic applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate optical nonlinearities in transparent polydiene solutions.
- To characterize the formation of optical spatial solitons and modulational instabilities.
Main Methods:
- Irradiation of polydiene solutions with a low-power continuous-wave (cw) visible laser.
- Imaging of optical spatial soliton formation using phase contrast microscopy.
- Observation of modulational instabilities via beam defocusing and cylindrical lensing.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated optical nonlinearities in fully transparent, nondilute polydiene solutions.
- Successfully imaged the formation of optical spatial solitons.
- Observed both (2+1)D and (1+1)D modulational instabilities forming 2D and 1D filament arrays.
Conclusions:
- Polydiene solutions exhibit significant optical nonlinearities under low-power laser irradiation.
- The observed phenomena, including soliton formation and modulational instabilities, highlight potential for novel optical devices.
- The precise origin of the observed nonlinearity requires further investigation.
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