We experimentally isolate and directly observe multimode solitons in few-mode graded-index fiber. We rely on Raman frequency shifts to spectrally isolate these multimode solitons. By varying the input energy and modal composition of the launched pulse, we observe a continuous variation of multimode solitons with different spatiotemporal properties. They exhibit an energy-volume relation that is...

We introduce the concept of multipole spatial optical vector solitons associated with higher-order guided modes trapped by a soliton-induced waveguide in a bulk medium. Such stationary localized waves include previously predicted vortex- and dipole-mode vector solitons and also describe new higher-order vector solitons and necklace-type beams. We present the theoretical and experimental results...

Many dissipative optical systems support patterns. Dissipative solitons are generally found where a pattern coexists with a stable unpatterned state. We consider such phenomena in driven optical cavities containing a nonlinear medium (cavity solitons) and rather similar phenomena (feedback solitons) where a driven nonlinear optical medium is in front of a single feedback mirror. The history, th...

We study formation and interaction of one-dimensional screening solitons in a photorefractive medium with sublinear dependence of the photoconductivity on light intensity. We find an exact analytical solution to the corresponding nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We show that these solitons are stable in propagation and their interaction is generic for solitons of saturable nonlinearity. In parti...

We address the dynamics of fundamental and higher-order dark solitons on the intense parabolic background in a planar graded-index waveguide with self-defocusing nonlinearity. It is shown that dark solitons on the parabolic background can propagate stably, and feature the properties similar to dark solitons for standard nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We present an approximate solution for dark...

We formulate the theory describing the evolution and interactions between optical spatial solitons that propagate in opposite directions. We show that coherent collisions between counterpropagating solitons give rise to a new focusing mechanism resulting from the interference between the beams, and that interactions between such solitons are insensitive to the relative phase between the beams.

We predict the formation of optical spatial solitons in photorefractive polymers. The orientational enhancement from the doped chromophores and the dependency of the quantum efficiency of generating mobile holes on the electric field make the polymeric solitons behave differently from other photorefractive solitons.

A bound state of temporal solitons in optical fibers is predicted numerically and demonstrated experimentally. It is appropriately described as a pair of bright solitons, bound together by a dark soliton. This structure exists only in dispersion-managed fiber and is different from bound solitons in fiber lasers.

We study the properties of surface solitons generated at the edge of a semi-infinite photonic lattice in nonlinear quadratic media, namely two-color surface lattice solitons. We analyze the impact of phase mismatch on the existence and stability of nonlinear surface modes and find novel classes of two-color twisted surface solitons, which are stable in a large domain of their existence.

We demonstrate a novel type of stable multicomponent vector solitons consisting of two perpendicular four-wave mixing (FWM) dipole components induced by electromagnetically induced gratings. We analyze the formation and steering of the steady dipole solitons and their dynamical (energy transfer) effects. The dipole-mode solitons of two FWM processes have horizontal and vertical orientations, re...