Light-matter interaction induces a shadow vortex.
By sending a light beam on a homeotropic nematic liquid-crystal cell subjected to a voltage with a photosensitive wall, a stable matter vortex can be induced at the center of the beam. When the applied voltage is decreased, the vortex disappears from the illuminated region; however, the system shows a stationary molecular texture. Based on a forced Ginzburg-Landau amplitude equation, we show that the vortex with a core of exponentially suppressed amplitude always remains in a shadow region below instability threshold and that the observed texture is induced by its phase distribution. This is a different type of vortex phase singularity solution. Numerical simulations and experimental observations show a quite fair agreement.
Departamento de Física, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile.
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R
Barboza
Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, 1361 Route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France.
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U
Bortolozzo
Departamento de Física, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile.
M G
MG
Clerc
Departamento de Ingeniería Matemática and Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (UMI 2807 CNRS), FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 170 Correo 3, Santiago, Chile.
J D
JD
Davila
Departamento de Ingeniería Matemática and Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (UMI 2807 CNRS), FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 170 Correo 3, Santiago, Chile.
M
M
Kowalczyk
Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, 1361 Route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France.
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S
Residori
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
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E
Vidal-Henriquez