Experimental spatial soliton trapping and switching

We show experimentally the trapping of two spatial solitons of the same wavelength but with slightly different propagation directions, which results from the collision of two initially overlapped solitons beams. This is the spatial analog of soliton pulse trapping in birefringent optical fibers. Adjustment of the phase shift between each beam permits the switching of one soliton to the other without disturbing their trajectory.