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Dissipative localized structures (or dissipative solitons) in extended systems has attracted much attention in fields as different as physics, hydrodynamics, chemistry, and biology.
Nonlinear optics, in particular, represents a fruitful area of activity. This is due to the fact that, on the one hand, dissipative solitons arise naturally in many optical systems from the interplay of diffraction, nonlinearities and dissipation. On the other hand, nonlinear optical devices have recently appeared as very promising devices for their potential applications, including low-noise measurement and detection, parallel image processing, and information storage.
In this talk we first give a brief introduction of the origin of transverse effects giving rise to spatio-temporal instabilities in spatially extended nonlinear optical systems. This enables us to emphasize the importance of pattern forming instabilities in the occurrence and dynamics of dissipative solitons. Second, we focus the investigations of the nonlinear dynamics resulting in dissipative solitons on two particular optical devices. (i) An optical resonator with a quadratic medium where asymmetric spatial dissipative solitons have been evidenced if a saturable absorber is introduced in the optical cavity. The saturable absorber may also inhibit the formation of patterns, and as a consequence spatial propagating dissipative solitons are generated. These dynamical solitons have a constant transverse velocity and are stable in a large domain of parameters. (ii) An optical cavity containing a Liquid Crystal Light Valve where dissipative solitons have been experimentally observed. Their dynamics will be discussed and compared with theoretical predictions. |
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