Physics-based multistep beam propagation in inhomogeneous birefringent media

We present a unified theoretical framework for paraxial and wide-angle beam propagation methods in inhomogeneous birefringent media based on a minimal set of physical assumptions. The advantage of our schemes is that they are based on differential operators with a clear physical interpretation and e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2020-08, Vol.28 (16), p.24327-24342
Main Authors: Poy, Guilhem, Žumer, Slobodan
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We present a unified theoretical framework for paraxial and wide-angle beam propagation methods in inhomogeneous birefringent media based on a minimal set of physical assumptions. The advantage of our schemes is that they are based on differential operators with a clear physical interpretation and easy numerical implementation based on sparse matrices. We demonstrate the validity of our schemes on three simple two-dimensional birefringent systems and introduce an example of application on complex three-dimensional systems by showing that topological solitons in frustrated cholesteric liquid-crystals can be used as light waveguides.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.400984