Abstract

A particularly interesting class of localized structures appearing in spatially extended nonlinear optical systems is that of domain walls (dark-like solitons), given the potential use of these structures in all-optical signal processing. As a domain wall connects two oppositely phased solutions two kinds of walls can exist depending on whether (i) the phase abruptly changes by π at a point of null intensity (Ising wall) or (ii) the phase continuously rotates across the wall (Bloch wall). Since two phase rotation senses exist Bloch walls are chiral, and this essential difference between Ising and Bloch walls makes that, in non potential systems such as most nonlinear optical systems, the latter generically move with a velocity related to their chirality.

© 2001 EPS