Optical spatial solitons and modulation instabilities in transparent entangled polymer solutions
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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light
Published on: July 29, 2013
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.
Abstract:
Fully transparent nondilute polydiene solutions exhibit optical nonlinearities when irradiated by a low-power cw laser in the visible. The formation of optical spatial solitons is imaged through phase contrast microscopy. Both (2+1)D and (1+1)D modulational instabilities are evidenced as 2D and 1D arrays of linear filaments formed by beam defocusing or by using a cylindrical lens. The origin of the nonlinearity remains elusive.
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