Observation of out-coupling of a nematicon

Abstract

In this work we present the observation of spatial optical solitons in liquid crystal cells by recording the diffraction pattern of the out-coupled beam on a distant screen. Simultaneously, the light propagation is observed via scattering measurements. The most important observation is displacement of the beam on the screen due to the transverse undulation inside the cell. This undulation is caused by the anisotropic walk-off of the beam. The displacement is in good agreement with the values of the undulation earlier reported.