Self-trapping of optical beams in photorefractive media

Abstract

We study the possibility of self-trapping of an optical beam in a photorefractive medium under the combined influence of diffraction and self-scattering (two-wave mixing) of its spatial frequency components. We investigate the spectrum of solutions for the resulting photorefractive spatial solitons and discuss their unique properties. Design considerations and material requirements for experimental realization of these solitons, together with specific examples, are given.