A Mie backscattering model for spherical particles with off-center inclusion has been developed and tested. The program is capable of dealing with size parameter values up to approximately 1000, thus allowing one to simulate the optical behavior of a large variety of atmospheric aerosols, as well as cloud and precipitation particles. On the basis of this model, we simulated the optical properti...

Atom and nanoparticle arrays trapped in optical lattices are shown to be capable of sustaining collective oscillations of frequency proportional to the strength of the external light field. The spectrum of these oscillations determines the mechanical stability of the arrays. This phenomenon is studied for dimers, strings, and two-dimensional planar arrays. Laterally confined particles free to m...

The phenomenon of destruction of silica fiber cladding by the fiber fuse effect has been observed for the first time to the authors' knowledge. Experiments on the optical discharge propagation along a fiber were conducted with fibers of decreased cladding thickness. The destruction of fiber cladding led to expansion of the optical discharge plasma and to a decrease of its density. This resulted...

Self-action effects such as self-defocusing and self-bending are well-known nonlinear optical phenomenon dating back to the 1960s. Until recently the so-called blooming or lensing effect of a symmetric beam has been a main topic of investigation. A smaller number of experiments using asymmetric beams were reported (see, for example Khoo, Golub, and Swartzlander.) Whereas many early experiments ...

We correct an error in our previous paper [Biomed. Opt. Express 2, 1218 (2011)] which led to an erroneous conclusion that a dispersive optical delay line (DODL) used in a swept source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT) system generated a pure phase modulation allowing for complex conjugate artifact removal in Fourier domain OCT via optical heterodyning. We now understand that an alternate phe...

We report time domain observations of optical instability in high Q silicon nitride whispering gallery disk resonators. At low laser power the transmitted optical power through the disk looks chaotic. At higher power, the optical output settles into a stable self-pulsing regime with periodicity ranging from hundreds of milliseconds to hundreds of seconds. This phenomenon is explained by the int...