Self-induced mode converter

We report on the experimental and theoretical investigation of nonlinear transformations of higher-order spatial solitons in nematic liquid crystals. We demonstrate the power-dependent conversion of a quadrupole Hermite-Gaussian mode into a single-ring Laguerre-Gaussian modal beam. We show that anisotropy induced by the boundary conditions of nematic cell strongly affects the conversion induced by nonlinear dynamics in nematic with nonlocal reorientational optical response.