Formation of multiple longitudinal high-absorption kinks under the action of collimated Gaussian light beams

The possibility of formation of several longitudinal kinks under the action of a collimated Gaussian light beam in a medium with absorptive cavityless optical bistability is demonstrated to be possible. The beam is essentiall y affected by diffraction. The domain formation is caused by the focusing o f an annular beam into which the Gaussian beam is transformed due to nonlin ear light absorption at small depths. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".