Optical vortices in beam propagation through a self-defocussing medium

Mcdonald, GS; Syed, KS; Firth, WJ

Abstract

We present numerical simulations and analysis of optical vortex propagation in a 3D self-defocussing medium. On plane wave background initial conditions composed of points and lines of phase discontinuity are shown, in some cases, to evolve towards a regular crystal of fully nonlinear vortices. In other cases the solution more resembles a vortex gas. For gaussian beams, we have derived a simple set of ordinary differential equations which are shown to accurately describe the motion of a single vortex while the background beam undergoes significant spreading.

Citation

Mcdonald, G., Syed, K., & Firth, W. (1992). Optical vortices in beam propagation through a self-defocussing medium. Optics Communications, 94(5), 469-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-4018%2892%2990589-J

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 1992
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2011
• Journal: Optics Communications
• Print ISSN: 0030-4018
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 469-476
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-4018%2892%2990589-J
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/0030-4018(92)90589-J
• Related Public URLs: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/003040189290589J