| Optics has the intrinsic capability of dramatically improving the fundamental performance of computers. Because silicon-based computing is expected to approach its technological limits in one or two decades, a new computation concept, Solitonic Gateless Computing, has been proposed. This approach is based on the unique collision properties of spatial solitons, i.e. optical beams that propagate without change of shape due to the balance of diffraction and material nonlinearity. Spatial solitons have commanded a great deal of attention because of their unusual physical properties, such as their remarkable stability and particle-like behavior upon collisions.; A detailed investigation of various existing and new classes of solitons is important in order to assess their value for computing and other applications. The investigation of instabilities of solitons is also critical. For example, polarization instability can limit the stability of various solitons against polarization fluctuations. On the other hand, seeding with an interference pattern can generate via modulational instabilities a periodic array of spatial solitons, a feature that could be used for computing.; In this dissertation, the construction, optimization and full characterization of a versatile tunable picosecond light source for soliton studies—an optical parametric generator-amplifier is described first. Subsequently, spatial noise initiated modulational instability (MI) in media with Kerr (third-order) and quadratic (second-order) nonlinearities in a one dimensional geometry, i.e. slab waveguides, is investigated and the results are compared to analytical theories and numerical simulations. Seeded MI is also studied and the MI gain was measured in lithium niobate waveguides with a quadratic nonlinearity. A closely related phenomenon, fission into multiple solitons, was observed in both lithium niobate waveguides at 1.32 microns and periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides at 1.58 microns.; The interaction between birefringence and Kerr nonlinearity leads ultimately to a polarization instability that places an upper limit on the intensity of Kerr and Vector solitons. This effect was investigated experimentally and numerically in aluminum gallium arsenide waveguides.; Lastly, the generation and properties of Type I quadratic solitons, that contain two frequency components and form an especially rich family, in bulk non-critically phase-matched potassium niobate is reported. |
