| This thesis shows the observation of discrete modulational instability in a fixed, one-dimensional periodic array of solitonic waveguides formed in a photorefractive crystal. The solitonic array of waveguides was written with the aid of the photorefractive screening nonlinearity, wherein charge in a photorefractive crystal screens an external applied field. This screening space-charge field then was used to "fix" the waveguides in place utilizing a polarization domain reversal technique. One of the byproducts of this "fixing" is the presence of an internal electric field. This electric field created the nonlinearity necessary to see discrete modulational instability. |
