title: Dark spatial solitons in bacteriorhodopsin thin films.
abstract: We report on the observation of dark spatial solitons in thin solid films containing bacteriorhodopsin. Because of the high nonlinearity of the material, the dark spatial solutions can be easily observed even with a few milliwatts of power from a He-Ne laser. This result promises novel applications for optical switching and optical interconnects.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ramanujam
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lindvold