Kepler's law for optical beams.

It is well known that optics and classical mechanics are intimately related. One of the most important concepts in classical mechanics is that of a particle in a central potential that leads to the Newtonian description of the planetary dynamics. Within this, a relevant result is Kepler's second law that is related to the conservation of orbital angular momentum, one of the fundamental laws in physics.

Laguerre-Gauss beams versus Bessel beams showdown: peer comparison.

We present for the first time a comparison under similar circumstances between Laguerre-Gauss beams (LGBs) and Bessel beams (BB), and show that the former can be a better option for many applications in which BBs are currently used. By solving the Laguerre-Gauss differential equation in the asymptotic limit of a large radial index, we find the parameters to perform a peer comparison, showing that LGBs can propagate quasi-nondiffracting beams within the same region of space where the corresponding BBs do. We also demonstrate that LGBs, which have the property of self-healing, are more robust in the sense that they can propagate further than BBs under similar initial conditions.

Far-field diffraction patterns by a thin nonlinear absorptive nonlocal media.

In this work we present numerical results of the far field intensity distributions obtained for a Gaussian beam after crossing a thin nonlinear nonlocal material that exhibit nonlinear refraction and absorption. The distributions are obtained for different positions along the Z axis and different signs of the nonlinear absorption. The results demonstrate that the far field intensity patterns obtained for strong nonlocal media are more affected by the presence of the nonlinear absorption than weak nonlocal media.

Nonlocal nonlinear refractive index of gold nanoparticles synthesized by ascorbic acid reduction: comparison of fitting models.

In this paper, the nonlinear refractive index of colloidal gold nanoparticles under continuous wave illumination is investigated with the -scan technique. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized using ascorbic acid as reductant, phosphates as stabilizer and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) as surfactant agent. The nanoparticle size was controlled with the CTAC concentration.

New asymmetric propagation invariant beams obtained by amplitude and phase modulation in frequency space.

In this paper, we demonstrate, numerically and experimentally that using the mask-lens setup used by Durnin to generate Bessel beams Durnin [Phys. Rev. Lett.

Sensitivity optimization of the one beam Z-scan technique and a Z-scan technique immune to nonlinear absorption.

It is presented a criteria for selecting the optimum aperture radius for the one beam Z-scan technique (OBZT), based on the analysis of the transmittance of the aperture. It is also presented a modification to the OBZT by directly measuring the beam radius in the far field with a rotating disk, which allows to determine simultaneously the non-linear absorptive coefficient and non-linear refractive index, much less sensitive to wave front distortions caused by inhomogeneities of the sample with a negligible loss of signal to noise ratio. It is demonstrated its equivalence to the OBZT.

Grating cavity dual wavelength dye laser.

We report simultaneous dual wavelength dye laser emission using Littman-Metcalf and Littrow cavity configurations with minimum cavity elements. Dual wavelength operation is obtained by laser operation in two optical paths inside the cavity, one of which uses reflection in the circulating dye cell. Styryl 14 laser dye operating in the 910 nm to 960 nm was used in a 15%:85% PC/EG solvent green pumped with a Q-switched doubled Nd3+:YAG laser.

Polarization-controlled contrasted images using dye-doped nematic liquid crystals.

We explore the polarization dependence of the nonlinear response of a planar nematic liquid crystal cell doped with 1% wt of methyl red dye. The results obtained show that the refractive index change can be switched from a positive value to a negative one as the polarization of the beam changes from parallel to perpendicular with respect to the rubbing direction. This property is exploited in a phase contrast system, where a dynamic phase filter is photoinduced in a liquid crystal cell placed in the system's Fourier plane.

Alternative formulation for invariant optical fields: Mathieu beams.

Based on the separability of the Helmholtz equation into elliptical cylindrical coordinates, we present another class of invariant optical fields that may have a highly localized distribution along one of the transverse directions and a sharply peaked quasi-periodic structure along the other. These fields are described by the radial and angular Mathieu functions. We identify the corresponding function in the McCutchen sphere that produces this kind of beam and propose an experimental setup for the realization of an invariant optical field.

Self-healing property of a caustic optical beam.

It is well known that Bessel beams and the other families of propagation-invariant optical fields have the property of self-healing when obstructed by an opaque object. Here it is shown that there exists another kind of field distribution that can have an analog property. In particular, we demonstrate that a class of caustic wave fields, whose transverse intensity patterns change on propagation, when perturbed by an opaque object can reappear at a further plane as if they had not been obstructed.

Influence of the photoinduced focal length of a thin nonlinear material in the Z-scan technique.

In this paper the response purely refractive of a thin nonlinear material, in the z-scan technique experiment, is modeled as a lens with a focal length that is a function of some integer power of the incident beam radius. We demonstrate that different functional dependences of the photoinduced lens of a thin nonlinear material give typical z-scan curves with special features. The analysis is based on the propagation of Gaussian beams in the approximation of thin lens and small distortion for the nonlinear sample.

Hollow spheres as individual movable micromirrors in optical tweezers.

We introduce the use of hollow micron-sized spheres with a finite-thickness glass shell as individual micromirrors operating by total internal reflection (TIR) when illuminated off-axis. We also demonstrated that this kind of spheres can be optically trapped and manipulated in two dimensions using a Gaussian beam in a conventional optical tweezers setup, which allows the precise positioning of the micromirrors at specific locations within a sample cell. This mirrors constitutes a new micro-tool in the context of the so called lab-on-a-chip.

Nonlinear common-path interferometer: an image processor.

A single-lens optical setup with a nonlinear medium placed in its geometrical focal plane is used to contrast a phase disturbance. This setup blends the robustness of phase-contrast methods with an optical nonlinear intensity-dependent medium and the usefulness of traditional interferometric techniques. We show that the ratio of the total illumination area to the phase-object area determines an adequate phase-disturbance contrast.

Observation of interaction forces between one-dimensional spatial solitons in photorefractive crystals.

We propagate two coherent and parallel beams of a He-Ne laser through a Bi(12)TiO(20) photorefractive crystal in the presence of drift nonlinearity. Our experimental results demonstrate that the beams attract or repel each other according to their initial phase difference. They attract each other when they are initially in phase and they repel each other when they are initially out of phase.

Experimental evidence of modulation instability in a photorefractive Bi(12)TiO(20) crystal.

We present experimental results on the propagation of an interference pattern of two He-Ne laser beams of unequal amplitudes through a photorefractive Bi(12)TiO(20) crystal in the presence of drift nonlinearity. The phenomenon that we have observed is the focusing of the fringes as the nonlinearity of the crystal is increased. We show that such a phenomenon can be quantitatively interpreted in the framework of modulation instability theory.

Nonlinear restrictions of Talbot-like spatial filters in semiconductor laser arrays.

We consider the operation of an active Talbot spatial filter in semiconductor laser arrays. High linearity of filtering can be achieved in lasers with separate driving systems for the array and filter regions by the use of a constant driving current in the filter region. If the regions are pumped equally, then lasers with high threshold current will show nonlinear light-current characteristics.