Short-range interactions between strongly nonlocal spatial solitons

Short-range interactions between strongly nonlocal spatial solitons were investigated and found to depend periodically on the soliton phase difference. Two solitons in close proximity can be intertrapped via the strong nonlocality, and propagate together as a whole. The trajectory of the propagation is a straight line with a slope controlled by the phase difference. Experimental results carried out in nematic liquid crystals agree quantitatively with the prediction. The modification of the Snyder-Mitchell model is also discussed. Our study suggests that the phenomenon in which optical beams can be steered by controlling the phase difference could be used in all-optical information processing.