Polarization dependent properties of waveguide arrays: band-structure anomaly and high-band localizations.

We experimentally study polarization dependent linear and nonlinear dynamics in waveguide arrays. We found that in certain arrays, the band structure and the modal shapes of the array modes are markedly different for the two polarizations, in a manner that cannot be simply explained using the effective index approximation. Specifically, one of the gaps was found to be missing for the TM polarization.

Observation of discrete gap solitons in binary waveguide arrays.

We report an experimental study of discrete gap solitons in binary arrays of optical waveguides. We observe self-focusing indicating soliton generation when the inclination angle of an input beam is slightly above the Bragg angle and show that the propagation direction of the emerging gap soliton is influenced by the effect of interband momentum exchange.