Optical Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals: Dynamics, Stability and Modulation Instabilities
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The article investigates the nonlinear dynamics of Gaussian-shaped optical solitons in nematic liquid crystals exhibiting cubic-quintic nonlocal nonlinearity. The system is modeled using the nonlinear nonlocal Schrödinger equation (NNLSE) and analyzed via the Lagrangian variational method (LVM) and split-step Fourier method (SSFM). Results confirm the existence of both low- and high-energy solitons, with their energy gap reduced approximately by $88\%$ when medium shifted from local to nonlocal. Enhanced nonlocality also sharpens the potential profile, particularly for high-energy states. Linear stability analysis identifies stable and unstable regimes, while further examination shows that stronger nonlocality suppresses modulation instability. The quintic nonlinearity further reduces the instability bandwidth, and complete suppression occurs beyond a critical input power. These findings emphasize the crucial role of nonlocality and higher-order nonlinearity in soliton stability, offering insights for designing optical switching and photonic devices.