Theoretical study on modulation of filamentation patterns by crystal orientation and polarization structure

Abstract

The anisotropic Kerr media with complex structure offers a new paradigm to forming diverse filamentation patterns. A great challenge and expectation is to flexibly modulate the distribution of filaments. Herein, we propose and demonstrate that controllable filamentation patterns in cubic crystals can be achieved by the synergy of crystal orientation and polarization structure. The results reveal that the self-focusing patterns exhibit high symmetry when the vector optical fields (VOFs) are incident along the crystal’s principal axis. Interestingly, once the incident orientation is changed, the filament intervals will be unevenly distributed. Additionally, the synergy of crystal orientation and polarization structure actively breaks the symmetry, making the resulting collapse patterns nearly immune to the extra random noise. Finally, we derive the analytical solution for the positions of the filaments and elucidate the underlying physical mechanisms. The findings may have potential in micro–nano fabrication, wave-guides, and other related applications.