Real-time synchronous imaging of electromechanical resonator mode and equilibrium profiles.

Interferometric imaging of normal mode dynamics in electromechanical resonators, oscillating in the rf regime, is demonstrated by synchronous imaging with a pulsed nanosecond laser. Profiles of mechanical modes in suspended thin film structures and their equilibrium profiles are measured through all-optical Fabry-Perot reflectance fits to the temporal traces. As a proof of principle, the mode patterns of a microdrum silicon resonator are visualized, and the extracted vibration modes and equilibrium profile show good agreement with numerical estimations.

Magneto-optical control of light collapse in bulk Kerr media.

The Cotton-Mouton (Voigt) and Faraday effects induce adjustable linear and circular birefringence in optical media with external magnetic fields. We consider these effects as a technique for magneto-optical control of the transmission of bimodal light beams through Kerr-nonlinear crystals. Numerical analysis suggests that a properly applied magnetic field may accelerate, delay, or arrest the collapse of (2+1)D beams. Experimentally, the magnetic collapse acceleration is demonstrated in a bulk yttrium iron garnet (YIG) crystal.

Polarization proximity effect in isolator crystal pairs.

We experimentally study the polarization dynamics (orientation and ellipticity) of near-infrared light transmitted through magneto-optical yttrium iron garnet isolator crystal pairs using a modified balanced detection scheme. When the pair separation is in the submillimeter range, we observed a proximity effect in which the saturation field is reduced by up to 20%. One-dimensional calculations suggest that the proximity effect originates from magnetostatic interactions between the dipole moments of the isolator crystals.

Power-dependent switching of nonlinear trapping by local photonic potentials.

We study experimentally and numerically the nonlinear scattering of wave packets by local multisite guiding centers embedded in a continuous dielectric medium as a function of the input power and angle of incidence. The extent of trapping into the linear modes of different sites is manipulated as a function of both the input power and the angle of incidence, demonstrating power-controlled switching of nonlinear trapping by local photonic potentials.

Nonlinear scattering and trapping by local photonic potentials.

We experimentally study the nonlinear scattering by local photonic structures embedded in continuous Kerr media and demonstrate nonlinear trapping in guiding structures and resonant transmission in antiguiding structures. An intuitive physical picture is presented and verified in simulations.

Interaction-induced localization of anomalously diffracting nonlinear waves.

We study experimentally the interactions between normal solitons and tilted beams in glass waveguide arrays. We find that as a tilted beam, traversing away from a normally propagating soliton, coincides with the self-defocusing regime of the array, it can be refocused and routed back into any of the intermediate sites due to the interaction, as a function of the initial phase difference. Numerically, distinct parameter regimes exhibiting this behavior of the interaction are identified.

Near-field imaging of nonlinear pulse propagation in planar silica waveguides.

A simplified near-field scanning optical microscope is employed to image the propagation of short laser pulses in planar silica waveguides, in the anomalous dispersion regime, under varying conditions of input beam power and width. Our results show a complex evolution of the transverse intensity profiles of the beam when there is a pronounced difference between the input diffraction and dispersion lengths. Numerical simulations confirm that these complex spatial dynamics are intimately related to the temporal and spectral evolution of the pulse.