Abstract

The equivalent of diffraction occurs in arrays of weakly coupled waveguides. Similar to continuous systems, discrete arrays can support stable solitons, which are formed when an intensity-dependent self-focusing mechanism is present to counteract discrete diffraction [1,2]. However, these discrete systems form a non-integrable system, even in Kerr media, and have many different properties when compared to their continuous counterparts [3]. One of these is the collision between two discrete solitons which is predicted to exhibit strong coupling to radiation fields for a few Kerr and quadratically nonlinear sample geometries [4,5]. In this paper we report the first observation of discrete beam nonlinear interactions.

© 2002 Optical Society of America