title: Observation of accelerating Wannier-Stark beams in optically induced photonic lattices.
abstract: We generate optical beams analogous to the Wannier-Stark states in semiconductor superlattices and observe that the two main lobes of the WS beams self-bend (accelerate) along two opposite trajectories in a uniform one-dimensional photonic lattice. Such self-accelerating features exist only in the presence of the lattice and are not observed in a homogenous medium. Under the action of nonlinearity, however, the beam structure and acceleration cannot be preserved. Our experimental observations are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions.
authors.forename: Xinyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Konstantinos G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Makris
authors.forename: Ramy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: El-Ganainy
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jintao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Demetrios N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Christodoulides
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen