Modulational instability in nonlinearity-managed optical media

Martin Centurion, Mason A. Porter, Ye Pu, P. G. Kevrekidis, D. J. Frantzeskakis, and Demetri Psaltis
Phys. Rev. A 75, 063804 – Published 5 June 2007

Abstract

We investigate analytically, numerically, and experimentally the modulational instability in a layered, cubically nonlinear (Kerr) optical medium that consists of alternating layers of glass and air. We model this setting using a nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with a piecewise constant nonlinearity coefficient and conduct a theoretical analysis of its linear stability, obtaining a Kronig-Penney equation whose forbidden bands correspond to the modulationally unstable regimes. We find very good quantitative agreement between the theoretical analysis of the Kronig-Penney equation, numerical simulations of the NLS equation, and the experimental results for the modulational instability. Because of the periodicity in the evolution variable arising from the layered medium, we find multiple instability regions rather than just the one that would occur in uniform media.

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  • Received 15 February 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.75.063804

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Martin Centurion1, Mason A. Porter2, Ye Pu3, P. G. Kevrekidis4, D. J. Frantzeskakis5, and Demetri Psaltis3

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, 85748 Garching, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics and Center for the Physics of Information, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • 3Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • 4Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4515, USA
  • 5Department of Physics, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, Athens 15784, Greece

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Issue

Vol. 75, Iss. 6 — June 2007

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