Chirality-enhanced periodic self-focusing of light in soft birefringent media

Poy, Guilhem (author), Hess, Andrew J. (author), Smalyukh, Ivan I. (author), Žumer, Slobodan (author)

We experimentally and numerically show that chirality can play a major role in the nonlinear optical response of soft birefringent materials, by studying the nonlinear propagation of laser beams in frustrated cholesteric liquid crystal samples. Such beams exhibit a periodic nonlinear response associated with a bouncing pattern for the optical fields, as well as a self-focusing effect enhanced by the chirality of the birefringent material. Our results open new possible designs of nonlinear optical devices with low power consumption and tunable interactions with localized topological solitons.

• Language: English
• Keywords: soft matter physics, liquid crystals, optics
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FMF - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2020
• Number of pages: Str. 077801-1-077801-6
• Numbering: Vol. 125, iss. 7
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-118018
• UDC: 538.9
• ISSN on article: 0031-9007
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.077801
• COBISS.SI-ID: 24983555
• Publication date in RUL: 12.08.2020

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Physical review letters
• Shortened title: Phys. rev. lett.
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1282575

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 12.08.2020

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: fizika mehke snovi, tekoči kristali, optika

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020
• Project number: 834256
• Name: Interacting optical and topological solitons in frustrated cholesterics
• Acronym: OPTOSOL

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P1-0099
• Name: Fizika mehkih snovi, površin in nanostruktur