Nonlocal cubic and quintic nonlinear wave patterns in pure-quartic media

In this work, pure-quartic soliton (PQS)formation is investigated in the framework of a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with competing Kerr (cubic) and non-Kerr (quintic) nonlocal nonlinearities and quartic dispersion. In the process, the modulational instability (MI) phenomenon is activated under a suitable balance between the nonlocal nonlinearities and the quartic dispersion, both for exponential and rectangular nonlocal nonlinear responses. Interestingly, the maximum MI growth rate and bandwidth are reduced or can completely be suppressed for some specific values of the cubic and quintic nonlocality parameters, depending on the type of nonlocal response. The analytical results are confirmed via direct numerical simulations, where the instability supports the signature of pure-quartic dark and bright solitons. These results may provide a better understanding of PQS structures for their potential applications in the next generation of nonlinear optical devices.