Abstract

The search for new paradigms for all-optical processing plays a pivotal role in current photonics research. In this perspective, light-defined waveguides (LDW) are of central importance. LDW can be roughly divided into two groups: permanent [1] and real-time [2]. In the first case, LDW persist even after the writing beam is shut off; in the second case, the effect requires the presence of an input (writing) beam. The latter corresponds to the formation of a spatial soliton, a shape-preserving wavepacket arising from the balance between diffraction and self-focusing [2]. Here, we show how spatial soliton waveguides in nematic liquid crystals (NLC), namely nematicons [2], can be rendered permanent via UV photo-polymerization.

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