Photorefractive spatial solitons

We present an overview of the experimental and theoretical understanding of spatial solitons in photorefractive materials. At present, three generic types of photorefractive solitons are known: quasi-steady-state, screening and photovoltaic solitons. The quasi-steady-state solitons exist during the slow screening process of an externally applied field in bright and dark realizations and in one and two transverse dimensions. The screening solitons occur in a photorefractive material when an externally applied field is nonuniformly screened at steady-state. The photovoltaic solitons exist in photorefractive materials with a strong photovoltaic current