Propagation soliton et auto-confinement de faisceaux laser par non linéarité optique de Kerr

Abstract An experimental demonstration is presented of the stable monomode self-trapping of laser beams with adequate shape and power when they are propagating through homogeneous transparent dielectrics whose refractive index exhibits fluctuations proportional to the local intensity. The field evolution in such material is governed by a nonlinear scalar wave equation, that possesses stable solutions called solitons. Those solutions correspond to the exact balance of the natural diffraction divergence of the beam by the convergence of the self-induced refractive index gradient.