Observation Of Optical Solitons In Pt-Symmetric Lattices

Abstract

Controlling light transport in nonlinear active environments is a topic of considerable interest in the field of optics. In such complex arrangements, of particular importance is to devise strategies to subdue chaotic behaviour even in the presence of gain/loss and nonlinearity, which often assume adversarial roles. Quite recently, notions of parity-time (PT) symmetry have been suggested in photonic settings as a means to enforce stable energy flow in platforms that simultaneously employ both amplification and attenuation. Here we report the experimental observation of optical solitons in PT-symmetric lattices. Unlike other non-conservative nonlinear arrangements where self-trapped states appear as fixed points in the parameter space of the governing equations, discrete PT solitons form a continuous parametric family of solutions. The possibility of synthesizing PT-symmetric saturable absorbers, where a nonlinear wave finds a lossless path through an otherwise absorptive system is also demonstrated.

Publication Date

7-28-2015

Publication Title

Nature Communications

Volume

6

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8782

Socpus ID

84938275623 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84938275623

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