ABSTRACT
We investigate the evolution of the state of polarization of light propagating through bulk depoled composite ferroelectrics below the Curie temperature. In contrast to standard depoled ferroelectrics, where random birefringence causes depolarization and scattering, light is observed to suffer varying degrees of depolarization and remains fully polarized when linearly polarized along the crystal principal axes. The effect is found to be supported by the formation of polarized speckles organized into a spatial lattice and occurs as the ferroelectric settles into a spontaneous super-crystal, a three-dimensional coherent mosaic of ferroelectric clusters. The polarization lattices gradually disappear as the ferroelectric state reduces to a disordered distribution of polar nanoregions above the critical point.
ABSTRACT
We experimentally demonstrate an electro-optic Gaussian-to-Bessel beam-converter miniaturized down to a 30×30 µm pixel in a potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate (KLTN) paraelectric crystal. The converter is based on the electro-optic activation of a photoinduced and reconfigurable volume axicon lens achieved using a prewritten photorefractive funnel space-charge distribution. The transmitted light beam has a tunable depth of field that can be more than twice that of a conventional beam with the added feature of being self-healing.
ABSTRACT
We report the direct observation of the onset of turbulence in propagating one-dimensional optical waves. The transition occurs as the disordered hosting material passes from being linear to one with extreme nonlinearity. As the response grows, increased wave interaction causes a modulational unstable quasihomogeneous flow to be superseded by a chaotic and spatially incoherent one. Statistical analysis of high-resolution wave behavior in the turbulent regime unveils the emergence of concomitant rogue waves. The transition, observed in a photorefractive ferroelectric crystal, introduces a new and rich experimental setting for the study of optical wave turbulence and information transport in conditions dominated by large fluctuations and extreme nonlinearity.
ABSTRACT
We propose and provide experimental evidence of a mechanism able to support negative intrinsic effective mass. The idea is to use a shape-sensitive nonlinearity to change the sign of the mass in the leading linear propagation equation. Intrinsic negative-mass dynamics is reported for light beams in a ferroelectric crystal substrate, where the diffusive photorefractive nonlinearity leads to a negative-mass Schrödinger equation. The signature of inverted dynamics is the observation of beams repelled from strongly guiding integrated waveguides irrespective of wavelength and intensity and suggests shape-sensitive nonlinearity as a basic mechanism leading to intrinsic negative mass.
ABSTRACT
As atoms and molecules condense to form solids, a crystalline state can emerge with its highly ordered geometry and subnanometric lattice constant. In some physical systems, such as ferroelectric perovskites, a perfect crystalline structure forms even when the condensing substances are non-stoichiometric. The resulting solids have compositional disorder and complex macroscopic properties, such as giant susceptibilities and non-ergodicity. Here, we observe the spontaneous formation of a cubic structure in composite ferroelectric potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate with micrometric lattice constant, 10(4) times larger than that of the underlying perovskite lattice. The 3D effect is observed in specifically designed samples in which the substitutional mixture varies periodically along one specific crystal axis. Laser propagation indicates a coherent polarization super-crystal that produces an optical X-ray diffractometry, an ordered mesoscopic state of matter with important implications for critical phenomena and applications in miniaturized 3D optical technologies.
ABSTRACT
Rogue waves are observed as light propagates in the extreme nonlinear regime that occurs when a photorefractive ferroelectric crystal is undergoing a structural phase transition. The transmitted spatial light distribution contains bright localized spots of anomalously large intensity that follow a signature long-tail statistics that disappears as the nonlinearity is weakened. The isolated wave events form as out-of-equilibrium response and disorder enhance the Kerr-saturated nonlinearity at the critical point. Self-similarity associable to the individual observed filaments and numerical simulations of the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation suggests that dynamics of soliton fusions and scale invariance can microscopically play an important role in the observed rogue intensities and statistics.
ABSTRACT
We study theoretically and experimentally the propagation of optical solitons in a lattice nonlinearity, a periodic pattern that both affects and is strongly affected by the wave. Observations are carried out using spatial photorefractive solitons in a volume microstructured crystal with a built-in oscillating low-frequency dielectric constant. The pattern causes an oscillating electro-optic response that induces a periodic optical nonlinearity. On-axis results in potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate indicate the appearance of effective continuous saturated-Kerr solitons, where all spatial traces of the lattice vanish, independently of the ratio between beam width and lattice constant. Decoupling the lattice nonlinearity allows the detection of discrete delocalized and localized light distributions, demonstrating that the continuous solitons form out of the combined compensation of diffraction and of the underlying periodic volume pattern.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate the integration of a miniaturized 30(x) µm×30(y) µm×2.7(z) mm electro-optic phase modulator operating in the near-IR (λ=980 nm) based on the electro-activation of a funnel waveguide inside a paraelectric sample of photorefractive potassium lithium tantalate niobate. The modulator forms a basic tassel in the realization of miniaturized reconfigurable optical circuits embedded in a single solid-state three-dimensional chip.
ABSTRACT
We study the formation of 2D self-trapped beams in nanodisordered potassium-sodium-tantalate-niobate (KNTN) cooled below the dynamic glass transition. Supercooling is shown to accelerate the photorefractive response and enhance steady-state anisotropy. Effects in the excited state are attributed to the anomalous slim-loop polarization curve typical of relaxors dominated by non-interacting polar-nano-regions.
Subject(s)
Glass/chemistry , Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry , Refractometry/methods , Alloys/chemistry , Light , Materials Testing , Needles , Scattering, RadiationABSTRACT
We demonstrate experimentally the electro-activation of a localized optical structure in a coherently driven broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) operated below threshold. Control is achieved by electro-optically steering a writing beam through a pre-programmable switch based on a photorefractive funnel waveguide.
Subject(s)
Electricity , Lasers , Electronics , Infrared Rays , Spectrum AnalysisABSTRACT
Anti-diffraction is a theoretically predicted nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when a light beam spontaneously focalizes independently of its intensity. We observe anti-diffracting beams supported by the peak-intensity-independent diffusive nonlinearity that are able to shrink below their diffraction-limited size in photorefractive lithium-enriched potassium-tantalate-niobate (KTN:Li).
ABSTRACT
We study experimentally the aging of optical spatial solitons in a dipolar glass hosted by a nanodisordered sample of photorefractive potassium-sodium-tantalate-niobate (KNTN). As the system ages, the waves erratically explore varying strengths of the nonlinear response, causing them to break up and scatter. We show that this process can still lead to solitons, but in a generalized form for which the changing response is compensated by changing the normalized wave size and intensity so as to maintain fixed the optical waveform.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate rejuvenation in scale-free optical propagation. The phenomenon is caused by the non-ergodic relaxation of the dipolar glass that mediates the photorefractive nonlinearity in compositionally-disordered lithium-enriched potassium-tantalate-niobate (KTN:Li). We implement rejuvenation to halt aging in the dipolar glass and extend the duration of beam diffraction cancellation.
Subject(s)
Glass , Lenses , Optics and Photonics/instrumentation , Refractometry/instrumentation , Computer-Aided Design , Equipment DesignABSTRACT
We report the simultaneous diffraction cancellation for beams of different wavelengths in out-of-equilibrium dipolar glass. The effect is supported by the photorefractive diffusive nonlinearity and scale-free optics, and can find application in imaging and microscopy.
Subject(s)
Glass , Lenses , Refractometry/instrumentation , Computer-Aided Design , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure AnalysisABSTRACT
We demonstrate the electro-activation of funnel waveguides through the quadratic electro-optic effect in paraelectric potassiumlithium- tantalate-niobate. This allows us to achieve electro-optic intensity modulation in a single optical beam, a 1x2 switch, and finally the electrically controlled morphing of a single waveguide into a 1x2 and a 1x4 divider.
Subject(s)
Electronics/instrumentation , Optical Devices , Refractometry/instrumentation , Computer-Aided Design , Electromagnetic Fields , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Light , Scattering, RadiationABSTRACT
We discuss and experimentally demonstrate a scheme to achieve photorefractive solitons of arbitrary linear polarization using the quadratic electro-optic effect and describe the observation of the self-trapping of a set of linear polarized beams in different positions of a paraelectric photorefractive crystal of potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate (KLTN) biased by the inhomogeneous field produced by two miniaturized top electrodes. The polarization of the single solitons of the set is determined by the local electrostatic configuration and the underlying tunable anisotropy, which is detected through zero-field electro-activation.
Subject(s)
Electromagnetic Phenomena/instrumentation , Electronics/instrumentation , Refractometry/instrumentation , Electromagnetic Fields , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Light , Linear Models , Scattering, RadiationABSTRACT
Strong asymmetry in the charge distribution supporting a single noninteracting spatial needle soliton in a paraelectric photorefractive is directly observed by means of electroholographic readout. Whereas in trapping conditions a quasi-circular wave is supported, the underlying double-dipolar structure can be made to support two distinct propagation modes.
ABSTRACT
We exploit nonlinear propagation in photorefractive crystals to observe the phenomenology associated with the collision and interaction of solitons of different tranverse dimensions: a self-trapped stripe and a round soliton. Along with evidence of particlelike behavior, our results indicate the emergence of a new phenomenology related to the hybrid-dimensional system.
ABSTRACT
The combination of charge separation induced by the formation of a single photorefractive screening soliton and an applied external bias field in a paraelectric is shown to lead to a family of useful electro-optic guiding patterns and properties.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate experimentally that, in a paraelectric, nonstationary boundary conditions can dynamically halt the intrinsic instability of quasi-steady-state photorefractive self-trapping, driving beam evolution into a stable oscillating two-soliton-state configuration.