One-dimensional spatial soliton dragging, trapping, and all-optical switching in AlGaAs waveguides

Abstract

We report the dragging and mutual trapping of two initially overlapped, orthogonally polarized, onedimensional spatial solitons in an AlGaAs slab waveguide. Using this effect, we realized an all-optical switch that had an on/off switching contrast of ~2.5:1. The contrast of the switch increased to 4:1 when a soliton was used to drag a nonsoliton, weak beam.

Ultrafast deflection of spatial solitons in Al_xGa_1?xAs slab waveguides

“…This is within a factor of 3 the observed Kerr induced deflection angle of ∼ 1 mR, although the Drude effect partially obscures the Kerr effect. The deflection angles reported here are comparable to those achieve with switching techniques involving co-propagating solitons and electrically induced prisms although the interaction lengths are much longer [4,14].…”

“…[1] While interesting objects of study in themselves, solitons are also being considered for information processing applications such as optically reconfigurable logic devices [2]. The switching of spatial solitons is an essential process for many applications, and popular embodiments include nonlinear interactions of co-propagating spatial solitons [3,4] or electro-optically induced pathway distortions. All-optical ultrafast reconfiguration of soliton pathways, e.g., due to the Kerr effect, in the telecommunication wavelength regime (1.3-1.6 µm) is an attractive goal and offers higher switching speeds compared to electro-optic methods.…”

Escaping Solitons from a Trapping Potential

“…They are often considered ubiquitous and share a number of fundamental properties relying on the combination of a nonlinear response and the natural tendency of a wave packet to spread as it propagates. Spatial solitons in optics (bright transversely selflocalized light beams) are recognized as fundamental nonlinear electromagnetic wave objects with potential applications to all-optical signal processing [3,4] and have been explored in several materials and configurations for signal readdressing [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Owing to their self-guided nature and robust particlelike behavior, in the presence of dielectric inhomogeneities, soliton dynamics embraces various phenomena, from oscillations and breathing [12][13][14] to refraction and reflection, [5,15,16], steering [17,18], as well as confinement near a surface [19,20].…”

Nonlinear properties of AlGaAs waveguides in continuous wave operation regime

“…Indeed they were studied since more than ten years as nonlinear devices [3,4]. In recent years, the improvements in waveguide fabrication technology have enabled to precisely tailor the mode distribution and dispersion in waveguides with large nonlinear coefficients and negligible nonlinear absorption at 1.55 μm [5][6][7].…”