arXiv subjects

A. V. Gorbach

Publications and source records attributed to A. V. Gorbach.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2016

Coupled spatial multi-mode solitons in microcavity wires

A modal expansion approach is developed and employed to investigate and elucidate the nonlinear mechanism behind the multistability and formation of coupled multi-mode polariton solitons in microcavity wires. With pump switched on and realistic dissipation parameters, truncating the expansion up to the second-order wire mode, our model predicts two distinct coupled soliton branches: stable and ustable. Modulational stability of the homogeneous solution and soliton branches stability are studied. Our simplified 1D model is in remarkably good agreement with the full 2D mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii model, reproducing correctly the soliton existence domain upon variation of pump amplitude and the onset of multistability.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Intrinsic bistability and dual-core dark solitons and vortices in exciton polariton condensates

We investigate a new kind of dark solitons and vortices that can exist in the exciton-polariton condensates. These structures have discontinuity in the excitonic part of the polaritonic field and exist due to an intrinsic multiplicity of the solutions for the exciton density in the given optical field. Reported solutions are characterized by two very distinct localization scales, and hence are coined as dual-core dark solitons and vortices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Spatial patterns of dissipative polariton solitons in semiconductor microcavities

Semiconductor microcavities operating in the polaritonic regime are highly non-linear, high speed systems due to the unique half-light, half-matter nature of polaritons. Here, we report for the first time the observation of propagating multi-soliton polariton patterns consisting of multi-peak structures either along (x) or perpendicular to (y) the direction of propagation. Soliton arrays of up to 5 solitons are observed, with the number of solitons controlled by the size or power of the triggering laser pulse. The break-up along the x direction occurs due to interplay of bistability, negative effective mass and polariton-polariton scattering, while in the y direction the break-up results from nonlinear phase-dependent interactions of propagating fronts. We show the experimental results are in good agreement with numerical modelling. Our observations are a step towards ultrafast all-optical signal processing using sequences of solitons as bits of information.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

The effects of spin-dependent interactions on polarisation of bright polariton solitons

We report on the spin properties of bright polariton solitons supported by an external pump to compensate losses. We observe robust circularly polarised solitons when a circularly polarised pump is applied, a result attributed to phase synchronisation between nondegenerate TE and TM polarised polariton modes at high momenta. For the case of a linearly polarised pump either s+ or s- circularly polarised bright solitons can be switched on in a controlled way by a s+ or s- writing beam respectively. This feature arises directly from the widely differing interaction strengths between co- and cross-circularly polarised polaritons. In the case of orthogonally linearly polarised pump and writing beams, the soliton emission on average is found to be unpolarised, suggesting strong spatial evolution of the soliton polarisation, a conclusion supported by polarisation correlation measurements. The observed results are in agreement with theory, which predicts stable circularly polarised solitons and unstable linearly polarised solitons resulting in spatial evolution of their polarisation.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2013

Nonlinear graphene plasmonics: amplitude equation

Using perturbation expansion of Maxwell equations, the amplitude equation is derived for nonlinear TM and TE surface plasmon waves supported by graphene. The equation describes interplay between in-plane beam diffraction and nonlinerity due to light intensity induced corrections to graphene conductivity and susceptibility of dielectrics. For strongly localized TM plasmons, graphene is found to bring the superior contribution to the overall nonlinearity. In contrast, nonlinear response of the substrate and cladding dielectrics can become dominant for weakly localized TE plasmons.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Observation of bright polariton solitons in a semiconductor microcavity

Microcavity polaritons are composite half-light half-matter quasi-particles, which have recently been demonstrated to exhibit rich physical properties, such as non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation, parametric scattering and superfluidity. At the same time, polaritons have some important advantages over photons for information processing applications, since their excitonic component leads to weaker diffraction and stronger inter-particle interactions, implying, respectively, tighter localization and lower powers for nonlinear functionality. Here we present the first experimental observations of bright polariton solitons in a strongly coupled semiconductor microcavity. The polariton solitons are shown to be non-diffracting high density wavepackets, that are strongly localised in real space with a corresponding broad spectrum in momentum space. Unlike solitons known in other matter-wave systems such as Bose condensed ultracold atomic gases, they are non-equilibrium and rely on a balance between losses and external pumping. Microcavity polariton solitons are excited on picosecond timescales, and thus have significant benefits for ultrafast switching and transfer of information over their light only counterparts, semiconductor cavity lasers (VCSELs), which have only nanosecond response time.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2010

Looking at a soliton through the prism of optical supercontinuum

A traditional view on solitons in optical fibers as robust particle-like structures suited for informa- tion transmission has been significantly altered and broadened over the past decade, when solitons have been found to play the major role in generation of octave broad supercontinuum spectra in photonic-crystal and other types of optical fibers. This remarkable spectral broadening is achieved through complex processes of dispersive radiation being scattered from, emitted and transformed by solitons. Thus solitons have emerged as the major players in nonlinear frequency conversion in optical fibers. Unexpected analogies of these processes have been found with dynamics of ultracold atoms and ocean waves. This colloquium focuses on recent understanding and new insights into physics of soliton-radiation interaction and supercontinuum generation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2009

Amplification of surface plasmon polaritons in the presence of nonlinearity and spectral signatures of threshold crossover

We describe effects of nonlinearity on propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at an interface between a metal and an amplifying medium of the externally pumped two-level atoms. Using Maxwell equations we derive the nonlinear dispersion law and demonstrate that, the nonlinear saturation of the linear gain leads to formation of stationary SPP modes with the intensities independent from the propagation distance. Transition to the regime of stationary propagation is similar to the threshold crossover in lasers and leads to narrowing of the SPP spectrum.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2009

Gap polariton solitons

We report the existence, and study mobility and interactions of gap polariton solitons in a microcavity with a periodic potential, where the light field is strongly coupled to excitons. Gap solitons are formed due to the interplay between the repulsive exciton-exciton interaction and cavity dispersion. The analysis is carried out in an analytical form, using the coupled-mode (CM) approximation, and also by means of numerical methods.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2009

Spatial solitons in periodic nano-structures

We present the first principle theory of the existence and stability of TE and TM spatial solitons in a subwavelength periodic semiconductor-dielectric structure. We have found that for the wavelength 1550nm and the interface separation close to and less than 100nm the band structure of the linear TE and TM waves becomes similar to the band structure of a homogeneous medium. The properties of TE solitons change accordingly. However, the transverse profiles of the TM solitons continue to reflect the subwavelength geometry of the structure and develop dominant intensity peaks inside the low index dielectric slots. Our stability analysis based on the linearized Maxwell equations indicates that the nonlinear TM waves can be approximated as the evanescently coupled modes of the slot waveguides with the low index dielectric core and the high index semiconductor cladding. Transition to the regime where the slot waveguides start to determine properties of TM waves is associated with the so called Brewster condition.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2008

Vortex solitons in an off-resonant Raman medium

We investigate existence and linear stability of coupled vortex solitons supported by cascaded four-wave mixing in a Raman active medium excited away from the resonance. We present a detailed analysis for the two- and three-component vortex solitons and demonstrate the formation of stable and unstable vortex solitons, and associated spatio-temporal helical beams, under the conditions of the simultaneous frequency and vortex comb generation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2007

Gravity-like potential traps light and stretches supercontinuum in photonic crystal fibers

The use of photonic crystal fibers pumped by femtosecond pulses has enabled the generation of broad optical supercontinua with nano-joule input energies. This striking discovery has applications ranging from spectroscopy and metrology to telecommunication and medicine. Amongst the physical principles underlying supercontinuum generation are soliton fission, a variety of four-wave mixing processes, Raman induced soliton self-frequency shift, and dispersive wave generation mediated by solitons. Although all of the above effects contribute to supercontinuum generation none of them can explain the generation of blue and violet light from infrared femtosecond pump pulses, which has been seen already in the first observations of the supercontinuum in photonic crystal fibers. In this work we argue that the most profound role in the shaping of the short-wavelength edge of the continuum is played by the effect of radiation trapping in a gravity-like potential created by accelerating solitons. The underlying physics of this effect has a straightforward analogy with the inertial forces acting on an observer moving with a constant acceleration.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2007

Theory of radiation trapping by the accelerating solitons in optical fibers

We present a theory describing trapping of the normally dispersive radiation by the Raman solitons in optical fibers. Frequency of the radiation component is continuously blue shifting, while the soliton is red shifting. Underlying physics of the trapping effect is in the existence of the inertial gravity-like force acting on light in the accelerating frame of reference. We present analytical calculations of the rate of the opposing frequency shifts of the soliton and trapped radiation and find it to be greater than the rate of the red shift of the bare Raman soliton. Our findings are essential for understanding of the continuous shift of the high frequency edge of the supercontinuum spectra generated in photonic crystal fibers towards higher frequencies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2007

Cascaded generation of multiply charged optical vortices and spatiotemporal helical beams in a Raman medium

Using an example of a Raman active medium we describe how a common nonlinear process of four-wave mixing can be used to induce strong coupling between the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom in optical waves. This coupling produces several unexpected effects. Amongst those are cascaded excitation of multiply charged optical vortices, spatial focusing in a nonlinearly defocusing medium and generation of helically shaped spatio-temporal optical solitons.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2006

Spectral-discrete solitons and localization in frequency space

We report families of discrete optical solitons in frequency space, or spectral-discrete solitons existing in a dispersive Raman medium, where individual side-bands are coupled by coherence. The associated time-domain patterns correspond to either trains of ultrashort pulses, or weakly modulated waves. We describe the physics behind the spectral localization and study soliton bifurcations, stability and dynamics.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2006

Energy flow of moving dissipative topological solitons

We study the energy flow due to the motion of topological solitons in nonlinear extended systems in the presence of damping and driving. The total field momentum contribution to the energy flux, which reduces the soliton motion to that of a point particle, is insufficient. We identify an additional exchange energy flux channel mediated by the spatial and temporal inhomogeneity of the system state. In the well-known case of a DC external force the corresponding exchange current is shown to be small but non-zero. For the case of AC driving forces, which lead to a soliton ratchet, the exchange energy flux mediates the complete energy flow of the system. We also consider the case of combination of AC and DC external forces, as well as spatial discretization effects.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2005

Compactlike discrete breathers in systems with nonlinear and nonlocal dispersive terms

Discrete breathers with purely anharmonic short-range interaction potentials localize super-exponentially becoming compact-like. We analyze their spatial localization properties and their dynamical stability. Several branches of solutions are identified. One of them connects to the well-known Page and Sievers-Takeno lattice modes, another one connects with the compacton solutions of Rosenau. The absence of linear dispersion allows for extremely long-lived time-quasiperiodic localized excitations. Adding long-range anharmonic interactions leads to an extreme case of competition between length scales defining the spatial breather localization. We show that short- and long-range interaction terms competition results in the appearance of several characteristic cross-over lengths and essentially breaks the concept of compactness of the corresponding discrete breathers.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2005

Resonant light-light interaction in slab waveguides: angular filters and spectral hole burning

We consider the process of low-power light scattering by optical solitons in a slab waveguide with homogeneous and inhomogeneous refractive index core. We observe resonant reflection (Fano resonance) as well as resonant transmission of light by optical solitons at certain incident angles. The resonance position can be controlled experimentally by changing the soliton intensity and the relative frequency detuning between the soliton and the probe light beams.

nlin.PS↗