Modulation analysis of boundary-induced motion of optical solitary waves in a nematic liquid crystal

Alessandro Alberucci, Gaetano Assanto, Daniel Buccoliero, Anton S. Desyatnikov, Timothy R. Marchant, Noel F. Smyth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We consider the motion of a solitary wave, a nematicon, in a finite cell filled with a nematic liquid crystal. A modulation theory is developed to describe the boundary-induced bouncing of a nematicon in a one-dimensional cell and it is found to give predictions in very good agreement with numerical solutions. The boundary-induced motion is then considered numerically for a two-dimensional cell and a simple extension of the modulation theory from one to two space dimensions is then made, with good agreement being found with numerical solutions for the nematicon trajectory. The role of nematicon shape and relative position to the boundaries in its evolution is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number043816
Number of pages8
JournalPhysical Review A
Volume79
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2009
Externally publishedYes
Publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • nematic liquid crystals
  • optical solitons
  • SPATIAL SOLITONS
  • MEDIA
  • PROPAGATION
  • DYNAMICS

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