Subwavelength optical spatial solitons and three-dimensional localization in disordered ferroelectrics: Toward metamaterials of nonlinear origin

We predict the existence of a class of multidimensional light localizations in out-of-equilibrium ferroelectric crystals. In two dimensions, the nondiffracting beams form at an arbitrary low-power level and propagate even when their width is well below the optical wavelength. In three dimensions, a subwavelength light bullet is found. The effects emerge when compositionally disordered crystals are brought to their metastable glassy state, and leading to the suppression of evanescent waves, they can have a profound impact on super-resolved imaging and ultradense optical storage, resembling metamaterials in many ways.