Anomalous interactions of spatial gap solitons in optically induced photonic lattices

We demonstrate coherent interactions between spatial gap solitons in optically induced photonic lattices. Because of the "staggered" phase structures, two in-phase (out-of-phase) bright gap solitons can repel (attract) each other at close proximity, in contrast to soliton interaction in homogeneous media. A reversal of energy transfer direction and a transition between attractive and repulsive interaction forces can be obtained solely by changing the initial soliton separation relative to the lattice spacing.     

Interaction between a dark spot and a two-dimensional nonlinear photonic lattice with fully incoherent white light

We study experimentally the interaction of a dark spot with a nonlinear photonic lattice with fully incoherent white light emitted from an incandescent bulb in the self-defocussing photovoltaic media when the dark spot is aimed at different positions of lattices with different lattice spacing. In this case a host of novel phenomena is demonstrated, including dark spot induced lattice dislocation-deformation, the annihilation of the dark spot and so on. Results demonstrate that the interaction between incoherent dark spot and photonic lattice is always attraction and the large-spacing photonic lattice is analogous to the continuous medium.     

Observation of nonlinear self-trapping in triangular photonic lattices

We experimentally study light self-trapping in triangular photonic lattices induced optically in nonlinear photorefractive crystals. We observe the formation of two-dimensional discrete and gap spatial solitons originating from the first and second bands of the linear transmission spectrum.     

光诱导光子晶格结构中新型的离散空间光孤子

离散孤子标志着从线性到非线性，从连续到非连续，从相干到非相干，人们对孤子认识的一个飞越．文章简要回顾了近期在二维光致光子晶格结构中有关空间离散光孤子的研究，包括基模离散孤子、类矢量离散孤子、离散偶极孤子、离散涡旋孤子和离散孤子串等．在非线性光折变晶体里用部分相干光诱导的波导阵列中，对每一种离散孤子，都清楚地观测到光从二维的离散衍射状态到自囚禁形成离散孤子的转变过程，获得的结果将对其他离散非线性系统中类似现象的研究有所启发．     

Discrete solitons and soliton-induced dislocations in partially coherent photonic lattices

We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the interaction between a light beam and a photonic lattice optically induced with partially coherent light. We demonstrate a clear transition from two-dimensional discrete diffraction to discrete solitons in such a partially coherent lattice and show that the nonlinear interaction process is associated with a host of new phenomena including lattice dislocation, lattice deformation, and creation of structures akin to optical polarons.     

完全非相干白光一维光生伏打暗空间孤子

使用白炽灯作光源在LiNbO₃∶Fe晶体内实验观察到一维白光光生伏打暗空间孤 子. 由奇数 和偶数初始条件分别产生了灰孤子和灰孤子对，它们所感应的波导能导向白光和相干光. 用 相干光清楚地探测到它们内部的多模结构. 该实验证明了白光光生伏打暗空间孤子的存在， 并指出了用完全非相干的白光暗孤子控制和导向相干光的可能性. 关键词： 光生伏打效应 自陷 完全非相干孤子 波导     

Bright and dark spatial solitons in metallic nanowire arrays

We investigate the formation and propagation of bright and dark three-dimensional unstaggered spatial solitons with cylindrical symmetry in a nonlinear nanowire metamaterial. The metamaterial is formed by metallic nanowires embedded in a Kerr-type dielectric host and is modeled using an effective medium approach. Unlike conventional Kerr media, the metamaterial supports bright solitons when the host is a self-defocusing material and dark solitons when the host is a self-focusing material. Our numerical calculations show that the confinement of the spatial-solitons results from the interplay of the host nonlinear response strength and the hyperbolic dispersion of the photonic states in the nanowire array. Subwavelength solitary beams may be observed for sufficiently strong nonlinearities.     

Observation of discrete vortex solitons in optically induced photonic lattices

We report on the first experimental observation of discrete vortex solitons in two-dimensional optically induced photonic lattices. We demonstrate strong stabilization of an optical vortex by the lattice in a self-focusing nonlinear medium and study the generation of the discrete vortices from a broad class of singular beams.     

Polychromatic interface solitons in nonlinear photonic lattices

We demonstrate that interfaces between two nonlinear periodic photonic lattices offer unique possibilities for controlling the nonlinear interaction between different spectral components of polychromatic light, and a change in the light spectrum can have a dramatic effect on the propagation along the interface. We predict the existence of polychromatic surface solitons that differ fundamentally from their counterparts in infinite lattices.     

Waveguides formed by incoherent dark solitons

We demonstrate experimentally optical guidance of coherent light beams, using incoherent light. Such guidance is made possible by generation of partially spatially incoherent self-trapped dark beams (dark incoherent solitons) in a noninstantaneous nonlinear medium. In the one-dimensional case, the incoherent solitons induce single and Y-junction planar waveguides, whereas in the two-dimensional case, they form circular waveguides. These experiments introduce the possibility of controlling high-power laser beams with low-power incoherent light sources such as LED's or lightbulbs.     

Asymmetric vortex solitons in nonlinear periodic lattices

We reveal the existence of asymmetric vortex solitons in ideally symmetric periodic lattices and show how such nonlinear localized structures describing elementary circular flows can be analyzed systematically using the energy-balance relations. We present the examples of rhomboid, rectangular, and triangular vortex solitons on a square lattice and also describe novel coherent states where the populations of clockwise and anticlockwise vortex modes change periodically due to a nonlinearity-induced momentum exchange through the lattice. Asymmetric vortex solitons are expected to exist in different nonlinear lattice systems, including optically induced photonic lattices, nonlinear photonic crystals, and Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices.     

Interaction of in-band and in-gap lattice soliton trains in optically induced two-dimensional photonic lattices

We demonstrate the coherent interactions of lattice soliton trains, including in-band solitons (IBSs) and gap soliton trains (GSTs), in optically induced two-dimensional photonic lattices with self-defocusing nonlinearity. It is revealed that the $\pi$-staggered phase structures of the lattice soliton trains will lead to anomalous interactions. Solely by changing their initial separations, the transition between attractive and repulsive interaction forces or reversion of the energy transfer can be obtained. The `negative refraction' effect of the soliton trains on the interaction is also discussed. Moreover, two interacting IBSs can merge into one GST when attraction or energy transfer happens.     

Stable soliton complexes in two-dimensional photonic lattices

We show that two-dimensional photonic Kerr nonlinear lattices can support stable soliton complexes composed of several solitons packed together with appropriately engineered phases. This may open up new prospects for encoding pixellike images made of robust discrete or lattice solitons.     

Spatiotemporal surface solitons in two-dimensional photonic lattices

We analyze spatiotemporal light localization in truncated two-dimensional photonic lattices and demonstrate the existence of two-dimensional surface light bullets localized in the lattice corners or the edges. We study the families of the spatiotemporal surface solitons and their properties such as bistability and compare them with the modes located deep inside the photonic lattice.     

Interactions of dark solitons in photovoltaic photorefractive crystals with diffusion nonlinearity

We investigate the interaction of spatial dark optical soliton pair in open-circuit photovoltaic photorefractive crystals by considering the effect of background light and diffusion nonlinearity. We show that the spatial dark solitons repel each other and travel along different trajectories for the coherent interactions that one undergoes reflection and the other one deflects significantly when they are closely overlapped, and the dark solitons attract and deflect simultaneously along a parabolic trajectory for the case of incoherent interactions. The deflection distance depends on the intensities and the initial separation between the dark solitons.     

Modulation instability of bright photovoltaic solitons on a partially incoherent background

We present the observation of incoherent anti-dark photovoltaic solitons in LiNbO₃:Fe crystal. This new class of soliton states involves bright photovoltaic solitons on a background beam meeting ?? > 1, where ?? is the ratio of background illumination photovoltaic constant to that of soliton beam. For ?? < 1, dark photovoltaic solitons are generated. Furthermore, this novel type solitons are investigated experimentally by injecting coherent light and partially coherent background of infinite extent. In case of spatial coherence of the background lower than the threshold of incoherent modulation instability, these results indicate that bright photovoltaic solitons can propagate in a stable fashion.     

Observation of multivortex solitons in photonic lattices

We report on the first observation of topologically stable spatially localized multivortex solitons generated in optically induced hexagonal photonic lattices. We demonstrate that topological stabilization of such nonlinear localized states can be achieved through self-trapping of truncated two-dimensional Bloch waves and confirm our experimental results by numerical simulations of the beam propagation in weakly deformed lattice potentials in anisotropic photorefractive media.     

饱和对数非线性介质中非相干孤子碰撞对相干性的改善

基于相干密度理论，数值地研究了饱和对数非线性支持的部分非相干亮孤子对的相互作用.研究表明，两个非相干亮孤子碰撞不仅能增大碰撞区的光强，还可以大大改善部分非相干光束的相干性.同时还研究了非相干性对孤子碰撞的影响，非相干性不仅抑制了孤子间的相干作用如吸引、排斥和能量交换，同时还由于非相干叠加作用而引入了弱的相互吸引. 关键词： 非相干性 饱和对数非线性 空间光孤子     

Disorder-induced localization of light near edges of nonlinear photonic lattices

We investigated the influence of edges and corners on the Anderson localization of light in disordered two-dimensional photonic lattices that are optically induced in nonlinear saturable photorefractive media. A systematic quantitative study of gradual transition from corner to bulk Anderson localization in truncated two-dimensional photonic lattices was carried out. We analyzed numerically the localization at several corners and edges of the square and triangular photonic lattices and compared them with the localization in bulk medium. We found that, for strong disorder, corners and edges effectively suppress Anderson localization, as compared to the bulk, but to a varying degree.     

Counterpropagating optical beams and solitons

Physics of counterpropagating optical beams and spatial optical solitons is reviewed, including the formation of stationary states and spatiotemporal instabilities. First, several models describing the evolution and interactions between optical beams and spatial solitons are discussed, that propagate in opposite directions in nonlinear media. It is shown that coherent collisions between counterpropagating beams give rise to an interesting focusing mechanism resulting from the interference between the beams, and that interactions between such beams are insensitive to the relative phase between them. Second, recent experimental observations of the counterpropagation effects and instabilities in waveguides and bulk geometries, as well as in one‐ and two‐dimensional photonic lattices are discussed. A variety of different generalizations of this concept are summarized, including the counterpropagating beams of complex structures, such as multipole beams and optical vortices, as well as the beams in different media, such as photorefractive materials and liquid crystals.