Soliton-like interactions of bright, low-power, low-divergence Gaussian fields in an unbiased self-defocusing photorefractive BaTiO3 crystal

The soliton-like interactions of two low divergence fields propagating in unbiased self-defocusing photorefractive media are examined. The interactions appear to be a result of factors that are not dissimilar to those between two steady state screening solitons. Analysis of the conditions for the interactions show a cutoff for the degree of beam divergence required for the soliton-like interactions to occur. The analysis also indicates that the strength of the interaction increases as the beam divergence decreases