Manipulation of light beam propagation in one-dimensional photonic lattices with linear refractive index profile

We use Bloch oscillations to demonstrate potential light beam propagation control in photonic lattices with linear refractive index change in transverse direction. It is qualitatively investigated how composite photonic lattice systems with varied values of refractive index gradient and nonlinearity strength along the propagation direction can be used to perform different functions, such as beam splitting and switching, in future components of all-optical networks. Additionally, we demonstrate the robustness of Bloch oscillations to nonlinearity and disorder in the proposed setup. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights resented.