We investigate numerically and experimentally the influence of coupling disorder on the self-trapping dynamics in nonlinear one-dimensional optical waveguide arrays. The existence of a lower and upper bound of the effective average propagation consta
nt allows for a generalized definition of the threshold power for the onset of soliton localization. When compared to perfectly ordered systems, this threshold is found to decrease in the presence of coupling disorder.
We observe experimentally two-dimensional solitons in superlattices comprising alternating deep and shallow waveguides fabricated via the femtosecond laser direct writing technique. We find that the symmetry of linear diffraction patterns as well as
soliton shapes and threshold powers largely differ for excitations centered on deep and shallow sites. Thus, bulk and surface solitons centered on deep waveguides require much lower powers than their counterparts on shallow sites.
