def slice(
        self,
        start: int | Any | None = None,
        stop: int | Any | None = None,
        step: int | Any | None = None,
    ) -> T_DataArray:
        """
        Slice substrings from each string in the array.

        If `start`, `stop`, or 'step` is array-like, they are broadcast
        against the array and applied elementwise.

        Parameters
        ----------
        start : int or array-like of int, optional
            Start position for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.
        stop : int or array-like of int, optional
            Stop position for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.
        step : int or array-like of int, optional
            Step size for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.

        Returns
        -------
        sliced strings : same type as values
        """
        f = lambda x, istart, istop, istep: x[slice(istart, istop, istep)]
        return self._apply(func=f, func_args=(start, stop, step))

        Slice substrings from each string in the array.

        If `start`, `stop`, or 'step` is array-like, they are broadcast
        against the array and applied elementwise.

        Parameters
        ----------
        start : int or array-like of int, optional
            Start position for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.
        stop : int or array-like of int, optional
            Stop position for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.
        step : int or array-like of int, optional
            Step size for slice operation.
            If array-like, it is broadcast.

        Returns
        -------
        sliced strings : same type as values
        
xarray/core/accessor_str.py