Spontaneous Emergence of Nonlinear Light Waves and Self-Inscribed Waveguide Microstructure during the Cationic Polymerization of Epoxides

We report spontaneous pattern formation due to modulation instability (MI) of a broad, uniform, incandescent beam as it propagates through a fluid medium undergoing cationic ring-opening polymerization of epoxide moieties and show that the dynamics of the process can be controlled through polymerization kinetics. By strong contrast, MI in the half century-old field of nonlinear light propagation has until now been described predominantly in …