Linear and nonlinear waves in surface and wedge index potentials.

ABSTRACT

We study optical beams that are supported at the surface of a medium with a linear index potential and by a piecewise linear wedge-type potential. In the linear limit the modes are described by Airy functions. In the nonlinear regime we find families of solutions that bifurcate from the linear modes and study their stability for both self-focusing and self-defocusing Kerr nonlinearity. The total power of such nonlinear waves is finite without the need for apodization.