Abstract
An overview is given of detailed experimental observations of the universal, self-similar nature of optical wave collapse due to Kerr nonlinearity self-focusing for randomly distorted and elliptical beams. The observations reveal that the spatial profile evolves to a specific circularly symmetric shape, known as the Townes profile, for elliptically shaped or randomly distorted input beams.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 203902 |
Pages (from-to) | 203902/1-203902/4 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 90 |
Issue number | 20 |
State | Published - 23 May 2003 |