Abstract

Incoherent spatial solitons have attracted considerable attention recently,^1-4 especially after the first experimental observation of partially incoherent solitons (PCS) was made by Mitchell et al.⁵ Several different approaches have been used for investigating incoherent solitons theoretically. The description of optical beams in nonlinear media in terms of a self-induced multimode waveguide has been especially fruitful.^1-3 In this point of view, stationary soliton propagation is governed by a proper combination of various mutually incoherent linear modes of the self-induced waveguide. In the limit when the number of modes goes to infinity, solitons of arbitrary shape may exist.⁶ However, the question of the existence of asymmetric solitons in media with saturable nonlinearity when the number of modes is finite is not obvious. We study the properties of partially coherent solitons in a saturable nonlinear optical medium. We have found, for the first time, exact asymmetric solutions for such solitons.

© 1999 Optical Society of America