Quadratic solitary waves in a counterpropagating quasi-phase-matched configuration

We introduce a time-dependent model for the generation of joint solitary waveguides by counter-propagating light beams in a photorefractive crystal. Depending on initial conditions, beams form stable steady-state structures or display periodic and irregular temporal dynamics. The steady-state solutions are non-uniform in the direction of propagation and represent a general class of self-trapped waveguides, including counterpropagating spatial vector solitons as a particular c...

We study the (1+1)-dimensional quasiperiodic multicolor solitons due to cascading quadratic nonlinear response in generalized one-dimensional quasiperiodic optical superlattice waveguides and show that the dynamic equations describing the quasi-phase-matched multicolor solitons include quasiperiodicity-induced Kerr effects, such as self- and cross-phase modulation, third harmonic generation and four-wave mixing. We demonstrate the stability of this multicolor solitons by mean...

Temporal optical solitons have been the subject of intense research due to their intriguing physics and applications in ultrafast optics and supercontinuum generation. Conventional bright optical solitons result from the interaction of anomalous group-velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation. Here we report the discovery of an entirely new class of bright solitons arising purely from the interaction of negative fourth-order dispersion and self-phase modulation, which can...

Physics of counterpropagating optical beams and spatial optical solitons is reviewed, including the formation of stationary states and spatiotemporal instabilities. First, several models describing the evolution and interactions between optical beams and spatial solitons are discussed, that propagate in opposite directions in nonlinear media. It is shown that coherent collisions between counterpropagating beams give rise to an interesting focusing mechanism resulting from the...

We report on a scheme which might make it practically possible to engineer the effective competing nonlinearities that on average govern the light propagation in quasi-phase-matching (QPM) gratings. Modulation of the QPM period with a second longer period, introduces an extra degree of freedom, which can be used to engineer the effective quadratic and induced cubic nonlinearity. However, in contrast to former work here we use a simple phase-reversal grating for the modulation...

We introduce a new concept for stable spatial soliton formation, mediated by the competition between self-bending induced by a strongly asymmetric nonlocal nonlinearity and spatially localized gain superimposed on a wide pedestal with linear losses. When acting separately both effects seriously prevent stable localization of light, but under suitable conditions they counteract each other, forming robust soliton states that are attractors for a wide range of material and input...

We demonstrate experimentally that in a centrosymmetric paraelectric non-stationary 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.

The evolution of light pulses and beams in a quasi-phase-matched (QPM) quadratic medium is usually described by considering only the spatial harmonic of the QPM grating that minimizes the residual phase-mismatch. I show that, for strongly phase-mismatched interactions (the cascading regime), several harmonics need to be accounted for in order to obtain the correct value of the effective cubic nonlinearity, of which I find a simple analytical expression. I discuss the effects ...

We study two-color surface solitons in two-dimensional photonic lattices with quadratic nonlinear response. We demonstrate that such parametrically coupled optical localized modes can exist in the corners or at the edges of a square photonic lattice, and we analyze the impact of the phase mismatch on their properties, stability, and the threshold power for their generation.

We propose two models for the creation of stable dissipative solitons in optical media with the $\chi^{(2)}$ (quadratic) nonlinearity. To compensate spatially uniform loss in both the fundamental-frequency (FF) and second-harmonic (SH) components of the system, a strongly localized "hot spot", carrying the linear gain, is added, acting either on the FF component, or on the SH one. In both systems, we use numerical methods to find families of dissipative $\chi^{(2)}$ solitons ...