All-optical switching by means of collisions of spatial vector solitons

The collisions of spatial vector solitons have been investigated numerically. Both the polarization and propagation directions of the solitons are changed after collision, which could be useful in the applications of all-optical switching. It is also found that both the polarization mixing and the beam deflection become exponentially smaller as theta increases. The advantages of using vector solitons in optical switching are discussed.