Discrete Solitons and Soliton-Induced Dislocations in Partially Coherent Photonic Lattices

We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the interaction between a light beam and a photonic lattice optically induced with partially coherent light. We demonstrate a clear transition from two-dimensional discrete diffraction to discrete solitons in such a partially coherent lattice and show that the nonlinear interaction process is associated with a host of new phenomena including lattice dislocation, lattice deformation, and creation of structures akin to optical polarons.