Arrays of soliton waveguides in lithium niobate for parallel coupling

Lithium niobate is a promising material for all-optical integrated photonics, particularly for soliton waveguides. An array of 13 x 10 soliton waveguides has been induced in a lithium niobate crystal using c.w. laser light at 532 nm wavelength. The spatial separation between waveguides (100 pm) ensures soliton writing without interactions, avoiding the possible deformation of soliton channels over a long distance (more than 15 diffraction lengths) and allowing the individual addressing of each soliton waveguide. The coupling and guiding properties of this parallel optical coupler at different wavelengths, with c.w. and pulsed laser signals, are investigated.