Propagation of light in photonic lattices with saturable nonlinearity comprising a defect

Linear and nonlinear effects accompanying the propagation of visible laser light through geometrically different one-dimensional photonic lattices made of material with a saturable nonlinearity are investigated, both theoretically and experimentally. Existence, stability and dynamics of various types of nonlinear localized modes (solitons) found to occur in lattices with a defect are explored. Additionally, the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking of a certain type of solitons is observed in symmetric lattices comprising a defect. (paper)