title: Polarization Shaping for Control of Nonlinear Propagation.
abstract: We study the nonlinear optical propagation of two different classes of light beams with space-varying polarization-radially symmetric vector beams and Poincaré beams with lemon and star topologies-in a rubidium vapor cell. Unlike Laguerre-Gauss and other types of beams that quickly experience instabilities, we observe that their propagation is not marked by beam breakup while still exhibiting traits such as nonlinear confinement and self-focusing. Our results suggest that, by tailoring the spatial structure of the polarization, the effects of nonlinear propagation can be effectively controlled. These findings provide a novel approach to transport high-power light beams in nonlinear media with controllable distortions to their spatial structure and polarization properties.
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bouchard
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Larocque
authors.affiliation: SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.|School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon 64849, Mexico.
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Leon
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rubano
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.|Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, 45137-66731 Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gian-Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Oppo
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.|Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Boyd