Observation of two-dimensional coherent surface vector lattice solitons

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental observation of two-dimensional vector surface solitons at the edges of laser-written waveguide arrays, revealing their formation, polarization properties, and dependence on power thresholds.

Contribution

It introduces the experimental discovery of vector surface solitons in 2D waveguide arrays, highlighting their unique polarization and localization characteristics.

Findings

Vector surface solitons observed at array edges and corners

Exist only above a certain power threshold

Components can have different degrees of localization

Abstract

We report the first experimental observation of vector surface solitons, which form at the edge and in the corner of two-dimensional laser-written waveguide arrays. These elliptically polarized vector states are composed of two orthogonally polarized components. They exist only above a power threshold and bifurcate from scalar surface solitons. The components of a vector soliton may have substantially different degrees of localization in certain parameter ranges.