Dynamical tunneling of counterpropagating beams mediated by an optical photonic lattice

In a numerical study, we demonstrate the dynamical tunneling (DT) of two counterpropagating (CP) mutually incoherent beams in a two-dimensional photonic lattice, recorded in a photorefractive (PR) crystal. The beams are launched head-on from the opposite faces of a PR crystal in which an optically i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOptics communications Vol. 282; no. 14; pp. 2939 - 2943
Main Authors JOVIC, D. M, PETROVIC, M. S, BELIC, M. R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.07.2009
Elsevier
Subjects
Dynamics of nonlinear optical systems; optical instabilities, optical chaos and complexity, and optical spatio-temporal dynamics
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Nonlinear optics
Optical solitons; nonlinear guided waves
Optics
Physics
42.65.Sf
42.65.Tg
Real time systems
Optical lattices
Brillouin zones
Optical solitons
Tunnel effect
Theoretical study
Photoinduced effect
Numerical method
Nonlinear dynamical systems
Photonics
Spontaneous symmetry breaking
Photorefractive crystal
Nonlinear optics
Periodic structures
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Summary:In a numerical study, we demonstrate the dynamical tunneling (DT) of two counterpropagating (CP) mutually incoherent beams in a two-dimensional photonic lattice, recorded in a photorefractive (PR) crystal. The beams are launched head-on from the opposite faces of a PR crystal in which an optically induced two-dimensional photonic lattice is established. The DT is caused by the spontaneous symmetry breaking of CP beams, which is induced by the nonlinear interaction between the beams and is mediated by the lattice. To observe DT we found no need to introduce a specific external tilt potential, as is done in the conventional Zener tunneling; the tilting is provided by the repulsive interaction between the beams, which causes ejection of one beam from the launching region of the other. As the beams propagate, they move laterally in real time, causing the leakage of radiation from the first Brillouin zone to the second and higher zones. In the process the beams also tunnel from the first photonic band zone to the higher zones, which by definition is the DT.
ISSN:0030-4018
1873-0310
DOI:10.1016/j.optcom.2009.03.045