Abstract

Discrete nonlinear Schrödinger (dNLS) equations have come to play a pivotal role in optics since their proposal by Christodoulides and Joseph nearly three decades ago [1]. In the context of cavity solitons and pattern formation, dNLS-type approaches have been used to describe light in discrete waveguide arrays confined to ring [2a] and Fabry-Pérot [2b] resonators. The resultant governing equations for the averaged intracavity field turn out to be discrete generalizations of the more familiar continuum models first derived by Lugiato and Lefever [3]. Here, we avoid the ubiquitous mean-field limit (with all its advantages and disadvantages) to focus on spontaneous patterns in two new discrete models where propagation effects have not been eliminated.

© 2015 IEEE