All-optical steering of the interactions between multiple spatial solitons in isotropic polymers

All-optical steering of the nonlinear interactions between multiple spatial solitons can be performed in an isotropic photoisomerization polymer, by propagating an external control beam in perpendicular direction. Fusing, giving birth to another new soliton, and transferring energy can take place in the interactions of signal beams, which can be achieved by changing the incident position of the control beam, the initial relative phase and the power ratio between the signal beams and the control beam. These phenomena are physically explained, and they have significantly potential applications in optical signal readdressing, logic gating, and all-optical switching, etc.