| Liquid optical fibers with multistable core actuated by light radiation pressure (2008) | |||||||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||||||
| We report on spatio-temporal behavior of self-adapted dielectric liquid columns generated and sustained by light radiation pressure. We show that single or multi-valued liquid column diameter depends on the excitation light beam. When the beam diameter is sufficiently small, we observe a well-defined stationary column diameter. In contrast, at larger beam diameter, the liquid column experiences complex spatio-temporal dynamics whose statistical analysis evidences an underlying multistable structure. Experimental observations are all supported by a full electromagnetic model that accounts for the wave guiding properties of the liquid column viewed as a step-index liquid- core/liquid-cladding optical fiber having an optically tunable core diameter. | |||||||||||||
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