Unidirectional flow of discrete solitons in optical waveguide arrays with nonlinearity management

We propose a mechanism for realising a unidirectional flow of discrete solitons in optical waveguide arrays. Modulating the nonlinear interaction strength in each waveguide according to a double reflectionless potential well with slight difference in the depths of its two wells, we achieve a unidirectional flow of the soliton propagation. We verify clearly, through the transport coefficients as in terms of the speed of the incident soliton, that an incident soliton velocity window of finite width exists where unidirectional flow can be realised. We discuss the physics underlying this behaviour on the basis of energy exchange between the soliton's kinetic and interaction energies. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.