Photonic Bloch oscillations and Zener tunneling in two-dimensional optical lattices

摘要

We report on the first experimental observation of photonic Blochoscillations and Zener tunneling in two-dimensional periodic systems. We studythe propagation of an optical beam in a square photonic lattice superimposed ona refractive index ramp, and demonstrate the tunneling of light from the firstto the higher-order transmission bands of the lattice bandgap spectrum,associated with the spectral dynamics inside the first Brillouin zone andcorresponding oscillations of the primary beam.