Abstract

The potential applications of nonlinear optical devices in the field of information technology has motivated an enormous research effort in recent years. Spatial solitons have an innate appeal as binary information elements, be-cause each element is not only self-trapped but is also self-stabilizing. Therefore, they have been proposed for use in optical information processing and storage devices.^1-3 In this presentation, we generalize the theory of spatial solitons in two-dimensional Kerr media to include ultranarrow soliton beams and propose the use of these beams in miniaturized nonlinear photonic devices.

© 1998 Optical Society of America