title: Nematicons in planar cells subject to the optical Fréedericksz threshold.
abstract: We investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, self-trapping of light beams in nematic liquid crystals arranged so as to exhibit the optical Fréedericksz transition in planar cells. The resulting threshold in the nonlinear reorientational response supports a bistable behavior between diffracting and self-localized beam states, leading to the appearance of a hysteretic loop versus input excitation. Our results confirm the role of nematic liquid crystals in the study of non-perturbative nonlinear photonics.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberucci
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kravets
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piccardi
authors.forename: Oleksandr
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Buchnev
authors.forename: Malgosia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaczmarek
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Assanto