Laser-made lattice reveals discrete light solitons in tunable atomic vapor

Scientists from the Quantum Technologies Group at the Institute of Physics Zagreb, in collaboration with a colleague from the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science, have experimentally demonstrated the existence of discrete one-dimensional (1D) solitons in an optically induced photonic lattice in warm rubidium vapor. The research, published in Laser & Photonics Reviews, opens new possibilities for research in nonlinear optics, photonic lattice physics, and complex quantum systems.

The researchers used warm rubidium vapor as a dynamic and tunable medium, creating the lattice by laser light. By increasing the intensity of a probe laser beam, they observed the formation of a discrete soliton—a localized beam of light whose transverse profile remains nearly unchanged as it propagates through the medium.

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