Abstract

During the last decades the interest in discrete physics was continuously growing. The major model systems for the investigation of discrete media are arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides in which the discrete propagation of light reveals deep insight into discrete physics. Waveguide arrays exhibit a variety of new fundamental aspects as well as basics for the development of innovative applications such as routing and switching devices. In this paper we demonstrate a quasi-incoherent evolution of fully coherent light in femtosecond laser written waveguide arrays. This effect is in strong contrast to the well-known spatial coherence for homogeneous media which describes a decreasing degree of coherence for an increasing distance between two sources.

© 2007 IEEE