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Time dependence of spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals

Jeroen Beeckman (UGent) and Kristiaan Neyts (UGent)
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Abstract
Although quite a number of applications of spatial solitons can be envisaged, the main application is their use as a dynamic optical interconnection. Depending on the speed at which the optical interconnection can be redirected from one output to another, different possibilities arise. If the switching time is in the order of a second, then typically only reconfigurable interconnects are possible, e.g. protective switching (when one optical path fails, the optical signal is switched to a backup optical path). More interesting is the use as high speed optical modulators, but then typically switching times in the order of a nanosecond are necessary. It is clear that the switching speed will be determinant for which application solitons can be of practical use, but in general one can state: the faster the switching speed, the better. In this Chapter, when we speak about switching time, we refer to the time that it takes for the soliton to form when the optical beam is switched on. For applications as reconfigurable interconnects, the switching time is actually the time it takes to switch the optical signal from one output to another, but since this is much harder to describe theoretically, we stick to the simpler problem of switching on (or off) the soliton beam. Obviously, the temporal behavior of the soliton will be determined by the optical nonlinearity used for the soliton formation and different nonlinearities are important in liquid crystals with completely different typical timescales. Therefore, in the first part of this Chapter we will give an overview of the behavior of the two most important optical nonlinearities in liquid crystals, namely the reorientational and the thermal nonlinearity. The other nonlinearities will be summarized briefly. In the second part, results for the soliton formation time will be presented for the reorientational nonlinearity.

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MLA
Beeckman, Jeroen, and Kristiaan Neyts. “Time Dependence of Spatial Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals.” Nematicons : Spatial Optical Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals, edited by Gaetano Assanto, John Wiley & Sons, 2012, pp. 327–44, doi:10.1002/9781118414637.ch13.
APA
Beeckman, J., & Neyts, K. (2012). Time dependence of spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals. In G. Assanto (Ed.), Nematicons : spatial optical solitons in nematic liquid crystals (pp. 327–344). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118414637.ch13
Chicago author-date
Beeckman, Jeroen, and Kristiaan Neyts. 2012. “Time Dependence of Spatial Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals.” In Nematicons : Spatial Optical Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals, edited by Gaetano Assanto, 327–44. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118414637.ch13.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Beeckman, Jeroen, and Kristiaan Neyts. 2012. “Time Dependence of Spatial Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals.” In Nematicons : Spatial Optical Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals, ed by. Gaetano Assanto, 327–344. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1002/9781118414637.ch13.
Vancouver
1.
Beeckman J, Neyts K. Time dependence of spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals. In: Assanto G, editor. Nematicons : spatial optical solitons in nematic liquid crystals. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons; 2012. p. 327–44.
IEEE
[1]
J. Beeckman and K. Neyts, “Time dependence of spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals,” in Nematicons : spatial optical solitons in nematic liquid crystals, G. Assanto, Ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2012, pp. 327–344.
@incollection{3033674,
  abstract     = {{Although quite a number of applications of spatial solitons can be envisaged, the main application is their use as a dynamic optical interconnection. Depending on the speed at which the optical interconnection can be redirected from one output to another, different possibilities arise. If the switching time is in the order of a second, then typically only reconfigurable interconnects are possible, e.g. protective switching (when one optical path fails, the optical signal is switched to a backup optical path). More interesting is the use as high speed optical modulators, but then typically switching times in the order of a nanosecond are necessary. It is clear that the switching speed will be determinant for which application solitons can be of practical use, but in general one can state: the faster the switching speed, the better. In this Chapter, when we speak about switching time, we refer to the time that it takes for the soliton to form when the optical beam is switched on. For applications as reconfigurable interconnects, the switching time is actually the time it takes to switch the optical signal from one output to another, but since this is much harder to describe theoretically, we stick to the simpler problem of switching on (or off) the soliton beam. Obviously, the temporal behavior of the soliton will be  determined by the optical nonlinearity used for the soliton formation and different nonlinearities are important in liquid crystals with completely different typical timescales. Therefore, in the first part of this Chapter we will give an overview of the behavior of the two most important optical nonlinearities in liquid crystals, namely the reorientational and the thermal nonlinearity. The other nonlinearities will be summarized briefly. In the second part, results for the soliton formation time will be presented for the reorientational nonlinearity.}},
  author       = {{Beeckman, Jeroen and Neyts, Kristiaan}},
  booktitle    = {{Nematicons : spatial optical solitons in nematic liquid crystals}},
  editor       = {{Assanto, Gaetano}},
  isbn         = {{9780470907245}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{327--344}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons}},
  series       = {{Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics}},
  title        = {{Time dependence of spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1002/9781118414637.ch13}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}

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