Interaction between light beams in thermocapillary liquid media

Abstract
The free surface of a thermocapillary liquid is heated by irradiation with a Gaussian laser beam. The free surface passes by an earlier dilatation stage, followed by the formation of a pit. The surface deformation modulates in turn the phase of the reflected and transmitted beams. This phenomenon belongs to the domain of self-modulation of light beams by interaction with a material medium. The dynamics of formation of a complex depression is studied experimentally and numerically.
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