Surface waves in defocusing thermal media

Opt Lett. 2007 Aug 1;32(15):2260-2. doi: 10.1364/ol.32.002260.

Abstract

We predict that the interface of materials with defocusing thermal nonlinearities supports stable fundamental and higher-order surface waves when the opposite edges of the medium are maintained at different temperatures. Such surface waves exist due to the interplay between repulsion from the interface and the defocusing thermal nonlinearity that deflects light beams from the bulk of the medium toward its edges.