Observation of edge solitons in topological trimer arrays

We report the experimental observation of nonlinear light localization and edge soliton formation at the edges of fs-laser written trimer waveguide arrays, where transition from nontopological to topological phases is controlled by the spacing between neighboring trimers. We found that, in the forme...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kartashov, Yaroslav V., Arkhipova, Antonina, Zhuravitskii, S. A., Skryabin, K. G., Dyakonov, Ivan, Kalinkin, Alexander, Kulik, Sergei, Kompanets, Victor O., Chekalin, S. V., Torner Sabata, Lluís|||0000-0002-6491-4210, Zadkov, Victor N.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/367128
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/367128
https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.093901
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Solitons
Wave guides
Photonics
Topological insulators
  Topological  insulators
  Wave-guide arrays
Guies d'ones
Fotònica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria de la telecomunicació::Telecomunicació òptica::Fotònica
Descripción
Sumario:We report the experimental observation of nonlinear light localization and edge soliton formation at the edges of fs-laser written trimer waveguide arrays, where transition from nontopological to topological phases is controlled by the spacing between neighboring trimers. We found that, in the former regime, edge solitons occur only above a considerable power threshold, whereas in the latter one they bifurcate from linear states. Edge solitons are observed in a broad power range where their propagation constant falls into one of the topological gaps of the system, while partial delocalization is observed when considerable nonlinearity drives the propagation constant into an allowed band, causing coupling with bulk modes. Our results provide direct experimental evidence of the coexistence and selective excitation in the same or in different topological gaps of two types of topological edge solitons with different internal structures, which can rarely be observed even in nontopological systems. This also constitutes the first experimental evidence of formation of topological solitons in a nonlinear system with more than one topological gap.