Dynamics of surface solitons at the edge of chirped optical lattices

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation and behavior of surface solitons at the edge of chirped optical lattices in nonlinear media, revealing unique thresholdless surface waves and their self-bending attraction to the interface.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of power thresholdless surface solitons at chirped lattice edges and describes their formation mechanisms and attractive dynamics.

Findings

Existence of power thresholdless surface solitons at lattice edges

Surface solitons act as attractors, drawing in from within the lattice

Surface solitons form due to combined reflection mechanisms

Abstract

We address soliton formation at the edge of chirped optical lattices imprinted in Kerr-type nonlinear media. We find families of power thresholdless surface waves that do not exist at other types of lattice interfaces. Such solitons form due to combined action of internal reflection at the interface, distributed Bragg-type reflection, and focusing nonlinearity. Remarkably, we discover that surfaces of chirped lattices are soliton attractors: Below an energy threshold, solitons launched well within the lattice self-bend toward the interface, and then stick to it.