Stability of an optical vortex in a circular nematic cell

Abstract

The stability of an optical vortex in a cell with a circular cross section containing a nematic liquid crystal is studied. A modulation theory based on an averaged Lagrangian formulation is developed to study this stability. It is found that the vortex is stable unless the radius of the cell is very small, nearly the width of the vortex itself. Based on the analysis of a stationary vortex, the stability of a low-amplitude vortex in a large cell under the influence of its orbital angular momentum and the repelling effect of the cell boundary are studied. The predictions of this modulation theory are found to be in excellent agreement with numerical simulations. Show more