Quasi-two-dimensional dark spatial solitons and generation of mixed phase dislocations

Abstract.

This paper presents experimental evidence that orthogonally crossed dark soliton stripes form quasi-two-dimensional spatial solitons with a soliton constant equal to that of singly charged optical vortices. Besides the pairs of oppositely charged optical vortex solitons, the snake instability of the dark formation at moderate saturation is found to lead to generation of steering mixed edge–screw phase dislocations with zero total topological charges.