HIGHER-ORDER SPACE-CHARGE FIELD EFFECTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF SPATIAL SOLITONS IN BIASED PHOTOREFRACTIVE CRYSTALS

We investigate higher-order space charge field effects on the evolutio n of bright spatial solitons in biased photorefractive crystals under steady-state conditions. Numerical simulations demonstrate that these optical solitons can experience considerable increase in their self-de flection especially in the regime of very high bias field strengths. T his process is further studied using perturbation techniques. Our anal ysis indicates, that for very high bias fields, the self-bending proce ss is further enhanced by a factor that varies cubically with the appl ied field. Relevant examples are provided.