Defect solitons supported by parity-time symmetric defects in superlattices

The existence and stability of defect solitons supported by parity-time (PT) symmetric defects in superlattices are investigated. In the semi-infinite gap, in-phase solitons are found to exist stably for positive defects, zero defects, and negative defects. In the first gap, out-of-phase solitons are stable for positive defects or zero defects, whereas in-phase solitons are stable for negative defects. For both the in-phase and out-of-phase solitons with the positive defect and in-phase solitons with negative defect in the first gap, there exists a cutoff point of the propagation constant below which the defect solitons vanish. The value of the cutoff point depends on the depth of defect and the imaginary parts of the PT symmetric defect potentials. The influence of the imaginary part of the PT symmetric defect potentials on soliton stability is revealed.     

Interface kink solitons in defocusing saturable nonlinear media

We report on the dynamics of semi-localized nonlinear optical modes supported by an interface separating a uniform defocusing saturable medium and an imprinted semi-infinite photonic lattice. Out-of-phase and in-phase kink solitons composed by dark-soliton-like pedestals and oscillatory tails are found. Two branches of out-of-phase kink solitons exist in shallow lattices. Saturable nonlinearity enhances the pedestal height and renormalized energy flow of kink solitons evidently. While in-phase kink solitons are always unstable, out-of-phase kink solitons will be completely stable provided that lattice depth exceeds a critical value. Furthermore, stable kink solitons in the higher band gaps are also possible. Our results may give a helpful hint for understanding the dynamics of kink solitons with high pedestals in other fields.     

Surface defect gap solitons in two-dimensional optical lattices

We investigate the existence and stability of surface defect gap solitons at an interface between a defect in a two-dimensional optical lattice and a uniform saturable Kerr nonlinear medium. The surface defect embedded in the two-dimensional optical lattice gives rise to some unique properties. It is interestingly found that for the negative defect, stable surface defect gap solitons can exist both in the semi-infinite gap and in the first gap. The deeper the negative defect, the narrower the stable region in the semi-infinite gap will be. For a positive defect, the surface defect gap solitons exist only in the semi-infinite gap and the stable region localizes in a low power region.     

Spatial solitons in photonic lattices with large-scale defects

We address the existence,stability and propagation dynamics of solitons supported by large-scale defects surrounded by the harmonic photonic lattices imprinted in the defocusing saturable nonlinear medium.Several families of soliton solutions,including flat-topped,dipole-like,and multipole-like solitons,can be supported by the defected lattices with different heights of defects.The width of existence domain of solitons is determined solely by the saturable parameter.The existence domains of various types of solitons can be shifted by the variations of defect size,lattice depth and soliton order.Solitons in the model are stable in a wide parameter window,provided that the propagation constant exceeds a critical value,which is in sharp contrast to the case where the soliton trains is supported by periodic lattices imprinted in defocusing saturable nonlinear medium.We also find stable solitons in the semi-infinite gap which rarely occur in the defocusing media.     

The contrast between defect solitons in parityben time symmetric superlattice and simple-lattice complex potentials

The existence and stability of defect superlattice solitons in parity-time (PT) symmetric superlattice and simple-lattice complex potentials are reported. Compared with defect simple-lattice solitons in similar potentials, the defect soliton in superlattice has a wider stable range than that in simple-lattice. The solitons' power increases with increasing propagation constant. For the positive defect, the solitons are stable in the whole region where solitons exist in the semi-infinite gap. For the zero defect, the solitons are unstable at the edge of the band. For the negative defect, the solitons propagate with the shape of Y at low propagation constant and propagate stably at the large one.     

Surface defect solitons at interfaces between dual-frequency and simple lattices

We reveal theoretically the existence and stability of surface defect solitons (SDSs) at interfaces between dual-frequency and simple lattices with focusing saturable nonlinearity. Solitons with some unique properties exist in such composite structures with the change of defect intensity. For zero defect or positive defect, the surface solitons exist at the semi-infinite gap and cannot exist in the first gap, and solitons are stable at lower power but unstable at high power. For the case of negative defect, the surface solitons exist not only in the semi-infinite gap, but also in the first gap. With increasing the defect depth, the stable region of surface solitons becomes narrower in the semi-infinite gap, these solitons are stable within a moderate power region in the first gap within unstable solitons in the entire semi-infinite gap.     

Optical solitons supported by finite waveguide lattices with diffusive nonlocal nonlinearity

We investigate the properties of fundamental, multi-peak, and multi-peaked twisted solitons in three types of finite waveguide lattices imprinted in photorefractive media with asymmetrical diffusion nonlinearity. Two opposite soliton self-bending signals are considered for different families of solitons. Power thresholdless fundamental and multi-peaked solitons are stable in the low power region. The existence domain of two-peaked twisted solitons can be changed by the soliton self-bending signals. When solitons tend to self-bend toward the waveguide lattice, stable two-peaked twisted solitons can be found in a larger region in the middle of their existence region. Three-peaked twisted solitons are stable in the lower (upper) cutoff region for a shallow (deep) lattice depth. Our results provide an effective guidance for revealing the soliton characteristics supported by a finite waveguide lattice with diffusive nonlocal nonlinearity.     

Defect solitons supported by the interface between simple lattices and superlattices

We study surface defect solitons (SDSs) at an interface between superlattices and simple lattices with focusing saturable nonlinearity. The properties of the SDSs formed in such kinds of mixed structures are obviously different from those in single superlattices or single ordinary lattices. Research results show that surface solitons with a zero defect or a positive defect are stable in the semi-infinite gap and cannot exist in the first gap. For the case of a negative defect, the stable region of surface solitons will be narrower in the semi-infinite gap with the increase of the defect depth. Surface gap solitons (SGSs) can stably exist in the first gap for a deeper negative defect depth.     

Solitons supported by defects of PT-invariant potentials with real part of dual-frequency lattices

The existence and stability of defect solitons in defective PT potentials with real part of dual-frequency lattices are reported. For positive defects, fundamental solitons are always stable in the semi-infinite gap and nonexistent in the first gap. While for negative defects, in the semi-infinite gap, fundamental solitons are stable in most of their existence region apart from low power region, but all the fundamental solitons are stable in the first gap. Dipole solitions are unstable in the whole semi-infinite gap regardless of defects, but in the first gap they can be stable in the low power region for positive defects.     

Asymmetrical surface soliton trains

We elucidate the existence, stability and propagation dynamics of multi-spot soliton packets in focusing saturable media. Such solitons are supported by an interface beside which two harmonically photonic lattices with different modulation depths are imprinted. We show that the surface model can support stable higher-order structures in the form of asymmetrical surface soliton trains, which is in sharp contrast to homogeneous media or uniform harmonic lattice modulations where stable asymmetrical multi-peaked solitons do not exist. Surface trains can be viewed as higher-order soliton states bound together by several different lowest order solitons with appropriate relative phases. Their existence as stable objects enriches the concept of compact manipulation of several different solitons as a single entity and offers additional freedom to control the shape of solitons by adjusting the modulation depths beside the interface.     

Surface solitons supported by one-dimensional composite Bessel optical lattices

We address the existence of surface solitons at an interface in a defocusing cubic medium with an imprinted one-dimensional （1D） composite Bessel optical lattice. This setting is composed of two Bessel lattices with different orders and different modulation depths, separated beside both sides of an interface. Stability analysis and numerical propagation simulations prove that solitons supported by the model are dynamically stable in the entire domain of their existence. The order of lattice determines the shape of soliton, and the amplitude of soliton depends on the lattice modulation depth. The experimental realization of the scheme is also proposed. Our results may provide another effective way of controlling the shapes of surface solitons and thus their evolutions by introducing a new freedom degree.     

Observation of higher-order solitons in defocusing waveguide arrays

We observe experimentally higher-order solitons in waveguide arrays with defocusing saturable nonlinearity. Such solitons can comprise several in-phase bright spots and are stable above a critical power threshold. We elucidate the impact of the nonlinearity saturation on the domains of existence and stability of the observed complex soliton states.     

光诱导准一维光子晶格中离散空间光孤子的相互作用

基于分步束传播法数值分析了离散空间光孤子在准一维光诱 导光子晶格中的相干与非相干相互作用过程. 结果表明: 对于相干孤子, 同相时相互吸引, 反相时相互排斥. 然而, 由于非线性响应的各向异性, 横向排布的非相干孤子会因间隔波导数目的增加而由相互吸引变为相互排斥. 并且, 沿对角方向排布的两个非相干孤子在孤子相 互作用力和布拉格反射的共同影响下, 会呈现出"钟摆式"振荡传输现象. 研究结果有助于进一步理解非线性各向异性对离散孤子相互作用的影响机制, 并为后续实验研究提供理论参考.     

Demonstration of surface soliton arrays at the edge of a two-dimensional photonic lattice

We demonstrate surface soliton arrays at the interface between a homogeneous medium and an optically induced two-dimensional semi-infinite photonic lattice. These are nonlinear Tamm-like surface states localized in one but extended periodically in the other transverse dimension. Both in-phase and staggered out-of-phase soliton arrays are observed, and the experimental results are corroborated by numerical simulations.     

Surface lattice solitons

We study theoretically nonlinear surface waves in optical lattices and show that solitons can exist at the heterointerface between two different semi-infinite 1D waveguide arrays, as well as at the boundaries of a 2D nonlinear lattice. The existence and properties of these surface soliton solutions are investigated in detail.     

Two-color surface lattice solitons

We study the properties of surface solitons generated at the edge of a semi-infinite photonic lattice in nonlinear quadratic media, namely two-color surface lattice solitons. We analyze the impact of phase mismatch on the existence and stability of nonlinear surface modes and find novel classes of two-color twisted surface solitons, which are stable in a large domain of their existence.     

Multicolor lattice solitons

We report on the existence of multicolor solitons supported by periodic lattices made from quadratic nonlinear media. Such lattice solitons bridge the gap between continuous solitons in uniform media and discrete solitons in strongly localized systems and exhibit a wealth of new features. We discovered that, in contrast to uniform media, multipeaked lattice solitons are stable. Thus they open new opportunities for all-optical switching based on soliton packets.     

Dispersionless envelope lattice solitons on a D-dimensional nonlinear lattice

We show by using the real exponential approach that the d-dimensional discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation has more general dispersionless envelope lattice soliton solutions than the known bright soliton and kink solutions. Depending on the values of the parameters, the new solutions can describe both bright and dark lattice solitons. Especially, we find novel “W”-like envelope lattice solitons.     

Higher-order surface solitons in one-dimensional Bessel optical lattices

We demonstrate the existence of higher-order solitons occurring at an interface separating two one-dimensional (1D) Bessel optical lattices with different orders or modulation depths in a defocusing medium. We show that, in contrast to homogeneous waveguides where higher-order solitons are always unstable, the Bessel lattices with an interface support branches of higher-order structures bifurcating from the corresponding linear modes. The profiles of solitons depend remarkably on the lattice parameters and the stability can be enhanced by increasing the lattice depth and selecting higher-order lattices. We also reveal that the interface model with defocusing saturable Kerr nonlinearity can support stable multi-peaked solitons. The uncovered phenomena may open a new way for soliton control and manipulation.     

Vortex lattice solitons supported by localized gain

We show that localized gain supports the existence of dissipative vortex solitons in periodic Kerr media with strong two-photon absorption. Vortex solitons exist in both focusing and defocusing media, with their propagation constants emerging from semi-infinite or finite gaps in the lattice spectrum. Coincidence of the discrete rotational symmetries of the gain landscape and refractive index distribution is a necessary condition for exciting vortex solitons, which otherwise transform into stable dissipative multipoles.