Tailoring diffraction: linear and nonlinear applications

Summary form only given. For two adjacent waveguides and /spl kappa/ there is an overlap integral of their two modes, which is also related to the coupling strength of the array. We will discuss the important consequences that this feature may have on the linear and nonlinear properties of a weakly coupled array (and, more in general, of periodic structures). We will also present theoretical and experimental results demonstrating the possibility of engineering novel dispersion-managed structures to control and even reverse the sign of diffraction.