Splitting of light beams with spiral phase dislocations into solitons in bulk quadratic nonlinear media

We investigate the propagation of intense light beams in bulk quadratic nonlinear crystals under conditions for second-harmonic generation. We show numerically that input light beams with a spiral phase dislocation self-split in the crystal into several spatial solitons. The number and the pattern of output solitons can be controlled by the material and wave parameters involved and in particular by the input-light intensity and by the topological charge of the dislocation. © 1997 Optical Society of AmericaPeer Reviewe