Observation of a spatial soliton in nematic liquid crystal confined in a cylindrical geometry

We describe the observation of what we call a spatial soliton in a dye doped nematic liquid crystal confined in a capillary tube. We present a semi-phenomenological model to explain how the optical Freederisckz effect can induce a waveguide structure within the liquid crystal. Moreover, using the optical waveguide theory, it is possible to explain how the Gaussian-like beam, emerging out of an optical single-mode fiber, creates an “equivalent” waveguide with the same intensity profile