Spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals: from bulk to discrete

We review theoretical and experimental results on spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystalline cells, including two-dimensional solitons in bulk and discrete solitons in one-dimensional waveguide arrays. In bulk we describe the propagation of continuous solitons in the presence of adjustable walk-off, their interaction with light-induced defects and refraction-reflection at a voltage-tunable interface. In optical lattices we address the transition from discrete diffraction to localization, as well as all-optical beam steering. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.