Dresden 2011 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 30: Photonics 2

Q 30.5: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 16. März 2011, 11:30–11:45, SCH A118

Spatial analysis of optically induced photonic lattices — •Sybille Niemeier, Patrick Rose, Martin Boguslawski, and Cornelia Denz — Institut für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nonlinear Science (CeNoS), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany

In optics, periodic refractive index structures have been utilized to demonstrate a multitude of fascinating nonlinear effects. These so-called photonic lattices may for instance be generated via optical induction in photorefractive crystals. The electro-optic properties of these crystals as e.g. strontium barium niobate allow for the generation of highly reconfigurable nonlinear refractive index patterns modulated in one, two, or three dimensions.

Up to now, only rather qualitative methods like waveguiding and Brillouin zone spectroscopy are used to analyze the spatial properties of optically induced lattices. In this contribution, we develop methods for a quantitative analysis of these structures. For birefringent materials, the exploitation of an induced birefringence modulation due to the anisotropy of the electro-optic coefficients is a very promising approach. Beneath, the measurement of the underlying band structure allows to infer information of the investigated photonic lattice structure as well.

These new approaches grant a well-grounded analysis of the induced refractive index structure, which will certainly lead to a better understanding of many sophisticated effects in photonic lattices such as discrete and vortex solitons, Zener tunneling, Bloch oscillations, or Anderson localization.