Nonlinear optical waveguide lattices: Asymptotic analysis, solitons, and topological insulators

Abstract

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the study of wave propagation in nonlinear photonic lattices. The interplay between nonlinearity and periodicity has led researchers to manipulate light and discover new and interesting phenomena such as new classes of localized modes, usually referred to as solitons, and novel surface states that propagate robustly. A field where both nonlinearity and periodicity arises naturally is nonlinear optics. But there are other areas where waves propagating on background lattices play an important role, including photonic crystal fibers and Bose–Einstein condensation. In this review article the propagation of wave envelopes in one and two-dimensional periodic lattices associated with additional potential in the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation, termed lattice NLS equations, are studied. A discrete reduction, known as the tight-binding approximation, is employed to find the linear dispersion relation and the equations governing nonlinear discrete envelopes for two-dimensional simple periodic lattices and two-dimensional non-simple honeycomb lattices. In the limit under which the envelopes vary slowly, continuous envelope equations are derived from the discrete system. The coefficients of the linear evolution system are related to the dispersion relation in both the discrete and continuous cases. For simple lattices, the continuous systems are NLS type equations. In honeycomb lattices, in certain cases, the continuous system is found to be nonlinear Dirac equations. Finally, it is possible to realize so-called topological insulator systems in an optical waveguide setting. The modes supported by these systems are associated with spectral topological invariants and, remarkably, can propagate without backscatter from lattice defects.