Discrete solitons in photorefractive optically induced photonic lattices

We demonstrate that optical discrete solitons are possible in appropriately oriented biased photorefractive crystals. This can be accomplished in optically induced periodic waveguide lattices that are created via plane-wave interference. Our method paves the way towards the observation of entirely new families of discrete solitons. These include, for example, discrete solitons in two-dimensional self-focusing and defocusing lattices of different group symmetries, incoherently coupled vector discrete solitons, discrete soliton states in optical diatomic chains, as well as their associated collision properties and interactions. We also present results concerning transport anomalies of discrete solitons that depend on their initial momentum within the Brillouin zone.