Title

Observation of Accelerating Wannier-Stark Beams in Optically Induced Photonic Lattices

Authors

Xinyuan Qi, San Francisco State University
Konstantinos G. Makris, Northwest University Xi'an
Ramy El-Ganainy, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Peng Zhang, San Francisco State University
Jintao Bai, Northwest University Xi'an
Demetrios N. Christodoulides, University of Central Florida
Zhigang Chen, San Francisco State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-14-2014

Abstract

We generate optical beams analogous to the Wannier–Stark states in semiconductor superlattices and observe that the two main lobes of the WS beams self-bend (accelerate) along two opposite trajectories in a uniform one-dimensional photonic lattice. Such self-accelerating features exist only in the presence of the lattice and are not observed in a homogenous medium. Under the action of nonlinearity, however, the beam structure and acceleration cannot be preserved. Our experimental observations are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions.

Publisher's Statement

© 2014 Optical Society of America. Referenced here in compliance with publisher policies. Publisher's version of record: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.39.001065

Recommended Citation

Qi, X., Makris, K. G., El-Ganainy, R., Zhang, P., Bai, J., Christodoulides, D. N., & Chen, Z. (2014). Observation of accelerating Wannier-Stark beams in optically induced photonic lattices. Optics Letters, 39(4), 1065-1068. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/ol.39.001065