title: Conical diffraction and gap solitons in honeycomb photonic lattices.
abstract: We study wave dynamics in honeycomb photonic lattices, and demonstrate the unique phenomenon of conical diffraction around the singular diabolical (zero-effective-mass) points connecting the first and second bands. This constitutes the prediction and first experimental observation of conical diffraction arising solely from a periodic potential. It is also the first study on k space singularities in photonic lattices. In addition, we demonstrate "honeycomb gap solitons" residing in the gap between the second and the third bands, reflecting the special properties of these lattices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Solid State Institute, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Or
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Peleg
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartal
authors.forename: Barak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Manela
authors.forename: Mordechai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segev
authors.forename: Demetrios N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Christodoulides