Fiber waveguide arrays as model system for discrete optics

Optical waveguide arrays consisting of a two-dimensional arrangement of weakly coupled waveguides represent the basis of the new research field of discrete optics. For studying the nonlinear pulse dynamics, fiber waveguide arrays offer specific advantages such as a high optical damage threshold and an accessible range of anomalous dispersion. Coherent coupling of such waveguides for reasonable propagation lengths requires, however, a high structural quality of the waveguides and their superstructure, which is beyond conventional fiber technology. Design, fabrication and characterization of such a fiber waveguide array are described. The linear propagation properties in such a system are modeled and compared with experimental measurements. The high structural homogeneity and good optical quality of the arrays as well as the limits of the nearest-neighbor approximation are demonstrated.     

Discrete solitons in inhomogeneous waveguide arrays

The existence and dynamical properties of discrete solitons in inhomogeneous waveguide arrays with a Kerr nonlinearity are studied in two different configurations. First we investigate the effect of a longitudinal periodic modulation of the coupling strength on the dynamics of discrete solitons. It is shown that resonances of internal modes of the soliton with the longitudinal structure may lead to soliton oscillations and decay. Second we study the existence and stability of discrete solitons in arrays exhibiting a linear variation of the waveguide effective index in the transverse direction. We find that resonant coupling between conventional discrete solitons and linear Wannier-Stark states leads to the formation of so-called hybrid discrete solitons.     

Discrete surface solitons in semi-infinite binary waveguide arrays

We analyze discrete surface modes in semi-infinite binary waveguide arrays, which can support simultaneously two types of discrete solitons. We demonstrate that the analysis of linear surface states in such arrays provides important information about the existence of nonlinear surface modes and their properties. We find numerically the families of both discrete surface solitons and nonlinear Tamm (gap) states and study their stability properties.     

Passive mode-locking by use of waveguide arrays

A novel mode-locking technique is presented in which the intensity-dependent spatial coupling dynamics of a waveguide array is used to achieve temporal mode-locking in a passive optical fiber laser. By use of the discrete, nearest-neighbor spatial coupling of the waveguide array, low-intensity light can be transferred to the neighboring waveguides and ejected (attenuated) from the laser cavity. In contrast, higher-intensity light is self-focused in the waveguide and remains largely unaffected. Numerical studies of this pulse shaping mechanism (intensity discrimination) show that using current waveguide arrays and standard optical fiber technology produces stable and robust mode-locked soliton-like pulses.     

Generation and stability of discrete gap solitons

We analyze stability and generation of discrete gap solitons in weakly coupled optical waveguides. We demonstrate how both stable and unstable solitons can be observed experimentally in the engineered binary waveguide arrays and also reveal a connection between the gap-soliton instabilities and limitations on the mutual beam focusing in periodic photonic structures.     

Discrete vector solitons in Kerr nonlinear waveguide arrays

We report the first experimental observation of discrete vector solitons in AlGaAs nonlinear waveguide arrays. These self-trapped states are possible through the coexistence of two orthogonally polarized fields and are stable in spite of the presence of four-wave mixing effects. We demonstrate that at sufficiently high power levels the two polarizations lock into a highly localized vector discrete soliton that would have been otherwise impossible in the absence of either one of these two components.     

Directional coupler with soliton-induced waveguides

We demonstrate a directional coupler that employs two waveguides induced by two mutually incoherent photorefractive solitons propagating in parallel at close proximity. Efficient coupling from one waveguide to the other is achieved for probe beams at wavelengths much longer than that of the solitons. We study the mutual coupling as a function of distance between solitons.     

Nonlinear band gap transmission in optical waveguide arrays

The effect of nonlinear transmission in coupled optical waveguide arrays is theoretically investigated and a realistic experimental setup is suggested. The beam is injected in a single boundary waveguide, linear refractive index of which (n(0)) is larger than refractive indexes (n) of other identical waveguides in the array. Particularly, the effect holds if omega(n(0)-n)/c>2Q, where Q is a linear coupling constant between array waveguides, omega is a carrier wave frequency, and c is a light velocity. Numerical experiments show that the energy transfers from the boundary waveguide to the waveguide array above a certain threshold intensity of the injected beam. This effect is due to the creation and the propagation of gap solitons in full analogy with a similar phenomenon in sine-Gordon lattice [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 134102 (2002)]].     

Nonlinear dynamics with higher-order modes in lithium niobate waveguide arrays

We present theoretical and experimental studies on nonlinear beam propagation in lithium niobate waveguide arrays utilizing higher-order second harmonic bands. We find that the implementation of the higher-order second harmonic bands leads to a number of new effects. The combined interaction of two second harmonic bands with a propagating fundamental beam can lead to a complete inhibition of nonlinear effects or to the formation of discrete spatial solitons, depending only on the wavelength of the fundamental wave. Furthermore we analyze the properties of discrete solitons, allowing for linear coupling of the second harmonic. Here we predict and demonstrate experimentally a power dependent phase transition of the soliton topology.     

光诱导平面波导阵列中离散空间光孤子的相干相互作用

采用Petviashvili迭代法对光诱导平面波导阵列中的一维离散空间光孤子进行求解,利用分步束传播法对离散空间光孤子间的相干相互作用进行了详细的数值模拟.探讨了离散孤子间的相位差、孤子光强、波导阵列写入光的强度和周期以及外加电场对相互作用过程的影响.结果表明：离散孤子间的相位差对相互作用的影响与连续介质中的情况类似,不同相位差情况下的相互作用也表现为吸引、排斥以及能量转移等现象.同时,离散孤子间的相干相互作用过程(如融合距离和排斥间距等)均会受到孤子光强、波导阵列写入光的强度和周期以及外加电场大小的影响 关键词： 光诱导平面波导阵列 离散空间光孤子 相干相互作用     

Gap solitons in defocusing lithium niobate binary waveguide arrays fabricated by proton implantation and selective light illumination

Photovoltaic photorefractive binary waveguide arrays are fabricated by proton implantation and selective light illumination on top of an iron-doped near stoichiometric lithium niobate crystal. Linear discrete diffraction and nonlinear formation of gap solitons were investigated by single-channel excitation using Gaussian light beams coupled into either wide or narrow waveguide channels. The results show that, at low power, linear light propagation leads to discrete diffraction, whilst for higher input power the focusing mechanism dominates, finally leading to the formation of gap solitons in the binary waveguide arrays. Our simulation of light propagation based on a nonlinear beam propagation method confirms the experimental findings.     

Observation of surface solitons in chirped waveguide arrays

We report the observation of surface solitons in chirped semi-infinite waveguide arrays whose waveguides exhibit exponentially decreasing refractive indices. We show that the power threshold for surface wave formation decreases with an increase of the array chirp and that for sufficiently large chirp values linear surface modes are supported.     

Band-gap structure of waveguide arrays and excitation of Floquet-Bloch solitons

Band-gap structure of periodic waveguide arrays is investigated in the linear and the nonlinear regimes. Excitation of array modes belonging to high bands is demonstrated. Floquet-Bloch solitons are demonstrated experimentally and shown to be a generalization of discrete solitons.     

Nonlinear localized modes at phase-slip defects in waveguide arrays

We study light localization at a phase-slip defect created by two semi-infinite mismatched identical arrays of coupled optical waveguides. We demonstrate that the nonlinear defect modes possess the specific properties of both nonlinear surface modes and discrete solitons. We analyze the stability of the localized modes and their generation in both linear and nonlinear regimes.     

Observation of discrete solitons in optically induced real time waveguide arrays

We report the first experimental observation of discrete solitons in an array of optically induced waveguides. The waveguide lattice is induced in real time by illuminating a photorefractive crystal with a pair of interfering plane waves. We demonstrate two types of bright discrete solitons: in-phase self-localized states and the staggered (pi out-of-phase) soliton family. This experiment is the first observation of bright staggered solitons in any physical system. Our scheme paves the way for reconfigurable focusing and defocusing photonic lattices where low-power (mW) discrete solitons can be thoroughly investigated.     

多个光伏空间亮孤子相互作用研究

用数值方法分析了多个平行传播一维光伏空间亮孤子之间的相干相互作用.结果表明，同相多个孤子相互作用时，它们不同于两个孤子时的周期性的融合和分开，而是会在整体吸引靠近过程中发生孤子的逐步融合作用.多个孤子相互之间发生能量耦合作用时，可简单归结为三种基本的相互作用模式.而邻近相互反相的多个孤子相互作用时，能保持很好的稳定传播特性，其对形成孤子阵列及阵列波导具有指导意义. 关键词： 光伏空间孤子 多个孤子 相互作用     

Discrete gap solitons in modulated waveguide arrays

We suggest a novel concept of diffraction management in waveguide arrays and predict the existence of discrete gap solitons that possess the properties of both conventional discrete and Bragg grating solitons. We demonstrate that one can control both the soliton velocity and the propagation direction by varying the input light intensity.     

Spin waves in the (π,0) magnetically ordered iron chalcogenide Fe1.05Te

We use neutron scattering to show that spin waves in the iron chalcogenide Fe(1.05)Te display novel dispersion clearly different from both the first principles density functional calculations and recent observations in the related iron pnictide CaFe(2)As(2). By fitting to a Heisenberg Hamiltonian, we find that although the nearest-neighbor exchange couplings in the two systems are quite different, their next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) couplings are similar. This suggests that superconductivity in the pnictides and chalcogenides share a common magnetic origin that is intimately associated with the NNN magnetic coupling between the irons.     

Negative index and indefinite media waveguide couplers

We study the coupling interaction between dielectric waveguides and coupling elements made from negative-refracting media. The coupling configuration consists of a length of dielectric waveguide, which terminates either directly into or near a planar layer composed of the negative-refracting medium, and is followed by a second waveguide. Radiation output from the first waveguide is refocused at the position of the second waveguide, so that the negative-refracting layer serves as a coupler between the waveguides. Because both isotropic negative-index layers and bilayers of indefinite media can recover the near-field, evanescent components of a source field distribution, the coupling between the input and output waveguides can be highly efficient – in principle providing perfect, lossless coupling. We present simulations and some initial experimental results illustrating the coupling effect, and speculate on the potential for optical fiber couplers and integrated modulators. PACS 42.79.Gn; 41.20.-q; 42.70.-a