Transverse instabilities and pattern formation in two-beam-excited nonlinear optical interactions in liquids

Opt Lett. 2006 Apr 1;31(7):951-3. doi: 10.1364/ol.31.000951.

Abstract

We describe observations of various transverse instabilities that occur when two laser beams intersect in nonlinear optical liquids. Patterns that we observe include two types of conical emission and the generation of a linear array of spots. These results can be understood in terms of the physical processes of self-diffraction, two-beam-excited conical emission, and seeded modulational instability.