Incoherently coupled soliton pairs in biased photorefractive crystals

We show that incoherently coupled soliton pairs are possible in biased photorefractive crystals, under steady-state conditions. These solitons can propagate in bright-bright, dark-dark, as well as in bright-dark configurations. Such soliton pairs can be established provided that the carrier beams share the same polarization, wavelength, and are mutually incoherent. Relevant examples are provided where the photorefractive crystal is of the strontium barium niobate type. The characteristics and stability properties of these soliton states are also discussed in detail. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.