Abstract

Spatial solitons in photorefractive media¹ have attracted much interest in the last few years. Here we study steady-state photorefractive screening soliton trapped in both transverse dimensions. We find that a specific combination of an external field and intensity ratio (between the soliton peak intensity and the sum of the background and the dark irradiances) can support an axially symmetric soliton beam. We measure the soliton beam profiles as the beam propagates throughout the crystal and show that it is indeed solitary wave propagation. We observe that the soliton self bends with an angle dependent on the intensity ratios, diffusion, and external fields. Finally, the 2-D soliton induces a 2-D waveguide in the volume of the bulk crystal. We use this soliton-induced waveguide to guide another, more intense, beam of a longer wavelength.

© 1996 Optical Society of America