Soliton mediated quantization transmission in shallow Bragg-gratings

Falk Eilenberger; C. Martijn de Sterke; Benjamin J. Eggleton

doi:10.1117/12.854567

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4 June 2010 Soliton mediated quantization transmission in shallow Bragg-gratings

Falk Eilenberger, C. Martijn de Sterke, Benjamin J. Eggleton

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Proceedings Volume 7728, Nonlinear Optics and Applications IV; 77281T (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.854567
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2010, Brussels, Belgium

Abstract

Many nonlinear systems exhibiting wave propagation, support solitons, nonlinear excitations that propagate unchanged, due to a balance of nonlinearity and dispersion. Of particular interest, both as a subject within photonics, as well as a topic of basic research, is their interaction with periodic structures, such as photonic crystals or gratings. Optical fibers and fiber gratings are rich experimental environments for nonlinear physics. The propagation of light in such a fiber is described approximately by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Here we demonstrate, both in experiment and simulation, that the process of soliton excitation, which is inherently discrete, profoundly changes the high power transmission properties of pulses through a Fiber Bragg grating for frequencies close to the band-edge. The quantization manifests itself in a characteristic staircase shape of the transmission spectrum at high powers. This behaviour is analyzed by a systematic study of the temporally resolved transmission spectra, which allows us to identify gap solitons as causing the transmission quantization. They act as discrete, self-induced transmission channels, because only solitons are able to propagate through the otherwise "forbidden" band-gap.

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Falk Eilenberger, C. Martijn de Sterke, and Benjamin J. Eggleton "Soliton mediated quantization transmission in shallow Bragg-gratings", Proc. SPIE 7728, Nonlinear Optics and Applications IV, 77281T (4 June 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.854567

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