FORMATION OF STEADY-STATE CYLINDRICAL THERMAL LENSES IN DARK STRIPES

Characteristic features of the formation of cylindrical laser-induced thermal steady-state lenses in the dark stripes associated with spatia l dark-soliton propagation are analyzed and verified experimentally in an ethanol-dye solution. Positive focusing power perpendicular to the dark stripe is ensured by defocusing along the axis of this stripe an d depends strongly on the shape of the light-beam profile and the orie ntation of the dark stripe within it. (C) 1996 Optical Society of Amer ica