Abstract
We investigate theoretically, numerically, and experimentally nonlinear optical waves in an absorbing out-of-equilibrium colloidal material at the gelification transition. At a sufficiently high optical intensity, absorption is frustrated and light propagates into the medium. The process is mediated by the formation of a matter-shock wave due to optically induced thermodiffusion and largely resembles the mechanism of hydrodynamical supercavitation, as it is accompanied by a dynamic phase-transition region between the beam and the absorbing material.
- Received 4 May 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.118301
© 2010 The American Physical Society