Spatial modulation instability and filamentation of Gaussian beam in metamaterials

Abstract

This paper deals with a study on spatial modulation instability and propagation dynamics of a Gaussian beam in cubic and quintic nonlinear metamaterials. We explore the parametric regions where the laser beam can exhibit stable and unstable dynamics in terms of modulation instability of continuous waves. As the modulation instability is the precursor to forming an ultrashort pulse, here we generate trains of ultrashort pulses by the filamentation of the Gaussian beam. Also, we observe the modulational stability of continuous waves as well as the stable dynamics of Gaussian beam in metamaterials with competing cubic and quintic nonlinearities.