Switching dynamics of femtosecond solitons in parity-time-symmetric coupled optical waveguides

We report a detailed study on soliton steering dynamics in a parity-time-symmetric directional coupler in the femtosecond domain, which requires incorporation of higher-order perturbative effects such as third-order and fourth-order dispersions, self-steepening, and intrapulse Raman scattering. With a high gain/loss, the combination of all these effects is found to stabilize the soliton pulse evolution in the coupler from the chaotic behavior of unperturbed evolution. This work demonstrates that efficient soliton steering can be achieved at very low critical power and a relatively higher gain/loss even in the femtosecond regime.

Automated summary

This study presents a detailed investigation on the dynamics of soliton steering in a femtosecond parity-time-symmetric directional coupler. The incorporation of higher-order perturbative effects stabilizes the soliton pulse evolution and enables efficient soliton steering.