Observation of defect-free surface modes in optical waveguide arrays

We report on the experimental observation of novel defect-free surface modes predicted theoretically for modulated photonic lattices [I. L. Garanovich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 203904 (2008)10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.203904]. We generate the linear surface modes in truncated arrays of periodically curved optical waveguides created in fused silica by a laser direct-writing technique. Our results demonstrate that the degree of surface wave localization can be controlled by selecting the waveguide bending amplitude.