Spatial solitons in photonic lattices with large-scale defects

We address the existence, stability and propagation dynamics of solitons supported by large-scale defects surrounded by the harmonic photonic lattices imprinted in the defocusing saturable nonlinear medium. Several families of soliton solutions, including flat-topped, dipole-like, and multipole-like solitons, can be supported by the defected lattices with different heights of defects. The width of existence domain of solitons is determined solely by the saturable parameter. The existence domains of various types of solitons can be shifted by the variations of defect size, lattice depth and soliton order. Solitons in the model are stable in a wide parameter window, provided that the propagation constant exceeds a critical value, which is in sharp contrast to the case where the soliton trains is supported by periodic lattices imprinted in defocusing saturable nonlinear medium. We also find stable solitons in the semi-infinite gap which rarely occur in the defocusing media.