Collapse of Optical Vortices

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the self-focusing of optical vortices in Kerr media. We observe collapse to a distinct self-similar profile, which becomes unstable to azimuthal perturbations. We analyze the azimuthal modulational instability for ring-shaped vortices and predict the number of azimuthal maxima solely as a function of power and topological charge. In our experiments, the observed multiple-filamentation patterns are in excellent agreement with our theoretical analysis.