| Three distinct classes of spatial solitons can exist in photorefractive materials. The first class arises from the nonlocal photorefractive effect and can be generated at extremely low intensities (mW/cm;Both bright and dark solitons have been observed experimentally for the three soliton classes. The theories developed for the screening solitons and the photovoltaic solitons account for these observations. However, the theory proposed by Segev et al. fails to explain the existence of dark solitons. This thesis examines the assumptions made by Segev et al. in an attempt to posit a more general theory that accounts for dark solitons. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
