Double symmetry breaking of solitons in one-dimensional virtual photonic crystals

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.053832· OSTI ID:21546881

Yongyao, Li ^[1]; Malomed, Boris A ^[2]; Mingneng, Feng; Jianying, Zhou ^[1]

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1. State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China)
2. Department of Physical Electronics, School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv IL-69978 (Israel)

We demonstrate that spatial solitons undergo two consecutive spontaneous symmetry breakings (SSBs), with the increase of the total power, in nonlinear photonic crystals (PhCs) built as arrays of alternating linear and nonlinear stripes, in the case when the maxima of the effective refractive index coincide with the minima of the self-focusing coefficient and vice versa (i.e., the corresponding linear and nonlinear periodic potentials are in competition). This setting may be induced, as a virtual PhC, by means of the electromagnetically induced-transparency (EIT) technique, in a uniform optical medium. It may also be realized as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) subject to the action of the combined periodic optical potential and periodically modulated Feshbach resonance. The first SSB happens at the center of a linear stripe, pushing a broad low-power soliton into an adjacent nonlinear stripe and gradually suppressing side peaks in the soliton's shape. Then the soliton restores its symmetry, being pinned to the midpoint of the nonlinear stripe. The second SSB occurs at higher powers, pushing the narrow soliton off the center of the nonlinear channel, while the soliton keeps its internal symmetry. The results are obtained by means of numerical and analytical methods. They may be employed to control switching of light beams by means of the varying power.

• OSTI ID: 21546881
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 83; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BEAMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
CONTROL
CRYSTALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FOCUSING
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
OPACITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PERIODICITY
PHOTON BEAMS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POTENTIALS
QUASI PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
REFRACTIVE INDEX
RESONANCE
SOLITONS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
VARIATIONS
VISIBLE RADIATION