Defect-free surface states in modulated photonic lattices

Abstract

We predict that interfaces of periodically curved waveguide arrays can support a novel type of surface states which exist in a certain region of modulation parameters associated with the band flattening. Such linear surface states appear in truncated but otherwise perfect (defect-free) lattices as a direct consequence of the periodic modulation of the lattice potential. We show that the existence of these modes in different band gaps can be flexibly controlled by selecting the modulation profile, with no restrictions on Blochwave symmetries characteristic of Shockley states.