Self-Trapping of Spatially and Temporally Incoherent White Light in a Photochemical Medium

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society 2006-01, Vol.128 (2), p.406-407
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jihua, Kasala, Kailash, Rewari, Abhitej, Saravanamuttu, Kalaichelvi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Other topics in optical properties of condensed matter and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Other topics in optical properties, condensed matter spectroscopy and other interactions of particles and radiation with condensed matter; Physics
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja056838+

We report that a beam of spatially and temporally incoherent white light self-traps by initiating free-radical polymerization in an organosiloxane medium. Refractive index changes due to polymerization lead to the formation of a narrow channel waveguide that traps and guides the entire multimode, broadband beam without diffraction. The response time of the system, which is determined by the inherently slow rate of free-radical polymerization, exceeds by several orders of magnitude the femtosecond-scale random phase fluctuations that characterize white light. Self-trapping of incoherent light is possible in the photochemical medium because it responds to the time-averaged intensity profile of the white light beam.