Discrete Spatial Optical Solitons in Waveguide Arrays

Abstract

We report the observation of discrete spatial optical solitons in an array of 41 waveguides. Light was coupled to the central waveguide. At low power, the propagating field spreads as it couples to more waveguides. When sufficient power was injected, the field was localized close to the input waveguides and its distribution was successfully described by the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.