Quasisymmetric and asymmetric gap solitons in linearly coupled Bragg gratings with a phase shift

Quiescent Gap Solitons in Coupled Nonuniform Bragg Gratings with Cubic-Quintic Nonlinearity

We study the stability characteristics of zero-velocity gap solitons in dual-core Bragg gratings with cubic-quintic nonlinearity and dispersive reflectivity. The model supports two disjointed families of gap solitons (Type 1 and Type 2). Additionally, asymmetric and symmetric solitons exist in both Type 1 and Type 2 families. A comprehensive numerical stability analysis is performed to analyze the stability of solitons. It is found that dispersive reflectivity improves the stability of both types of solitons. Nontrivial stability boundaries have been identified within the bandgap for each family of solitons. The effects and interplay of dispersive reflectivity and the coupling coefficient on the stability regions are also analyzed.

Topological valley plasmon transport in bilayer graphene metasurfaces for sensing applications

Topologically protected plasmonic modes located inside topological bandgaps are attracting increasing attention, chiefly due to their robustness against disorder-induced backscattering. Here, we introduce a bilayer graphene metasurface that possesses plasmonic topological valley interface modes when the mirror symmetry of the metasurface is broken by horizontally shifting the lattice of holes of the top layer of the two freestanding graphene layers in opposite directions. In this configuration, light propagation along the domain-wall interface of the bilayer graphene metasurface shows unidirectional features. Moreover, we have designed a molecular sensor based on the topological properties of this metasurface using the fact that the Fermi energy of graphene varies upon chemical doping. This effect induces strong variation of the transmission of the topological guided modes, which can be employed as the underlying working principle of gas sensing devices. Our work opens up new ways of developing robust integrated plasmonic devices for molecular sensing.

Bragg solitons in systems with separated nonuniform Bragg grating and nonlinearity

The existence and stability of quiescent Bragg grating solitons are systematically investigated in a dual-core fiber, where one of the cores is uniform and has Kerr nonlinearity while the other one is linear and incorporates a Bragg grating with dispersive reflectivity. Three spectral gaps are identified in the system, in which both lower and upper band gaps overlap with one branch of the continuous spectrum; therefore, these are not genuine band gaps. However, the central band gap is a genuine band gap. Soliton solutions are found in the lower and upper gaps only. It is found that in certain parameter ranges, the solitons develop side lobes. To analyze the side lobes, we have derived exact analytical expressions for the tails of solitons that are in excellent agreement with the numerical solutions. We have analyzed the stability of solitons in the system by means of systematic numerical simulations. We have found vast stable regions in the upper and lower gaps. The effect and interplay of dispersive reflectivity, the group velocity difference, and the grating-induced coupling on the stability of solitons are investigated. A key finding is that a stronger grating-induced coupling coefficient counteracts the stabilization effect of dispersive reflectivity.

Moving Bragg grating solitons in a semilinear dual-core system with dispersive reflectivity

The existence, stability and collision dynamics of moving Bragg grating solitons in a semilinear dual-core system where one core has the Kerr nonlinearity and is equipped with a Bragg grating with dispersive reflectivity, and the other core is linear are investigated. It is found that moving soliton solutions exist as a continuous family of solutions in the upper and lower gaps of the system's linear spectrum. The stability of the moving solitons are investigated by means of systematic numerical stability analysis, and the effect and interplay of various parameters on soliton stability are analyzed. We have also systematically investigated the characteristics of collisions of counter-propagating solitons. In-phase collisions can lead to a variety of outcomes such as passage of solitons through each other with increased, reduced or unchanged velocities, asymmetric separation of solitons, merger of solitons into a quiescent one, formation of three solitons (one quiescent and two moving ones) and destruction of both solitons. The outcome regions of in-phase collisions are identified in the plane of dispersive reflectivity versus frequency. The effects of coupling coefficient, relative group velocity in the linear core, soliton velocity and dispersive reflectivity and the initial phase difference on the outcomes of collisions are studied.

Cross-symmetric dipolar-matter-wave solitons in double-well chains

We consider a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in an array of two-well systems with an arbitrary orientation of the dipoles relative to the system's axis. The system can be built as a chain of local traps sliced into two parallel lattices by a repelling laser sheet. It is modeled by a pair of coupled discrete Gross-Pitaevskii equations, with dipole-dipole self-interactions and cross interactions. When the dipoles are not polarized perpendicular or parallel to the lattice, the cross interaction is asymmetric, replacing the familiar symmetric two-component discrete solitons by two new species of cross-symmetric ones, viz., on-site- and off-site-centered solitons, which are strongly affected by the orientation of the dipoles and separation between the parallel lattices. A very narrow region of intermediate asymmetric discrete solitons is found at the boundary between the on- and off-site families. Two different types of solitons in the PT-symmetric version of the system are constructed too, and stability areas are identified for them.

Moving Bragg grating solitons in a cubic-quintic nonlinear medium with dispersive reflectivity

The stability and collision dynamics of moving solitons in Bragg gratings with cubic-quintic nonlinearity and dispersive reflectivity are investigated. Two disjoint families of solitons are found on the plane of the coefficient of quintic nonlinearity versus the normalized frequency (η,Ω(norm)). Through numerical stability analysis, we have identified stability regions on the (η,Ω(norm)) plane for various values of dispersive reflectivity parameter (m) and velocity (v). The size of stability regions is found to be dependent on m and v. Collisions of counterpropgating Type 1 and Type 2 solitons have been systematically investigated. It is found that for low to moderate values of dispersive reflectivity, the collisions of Type 1 solitons can result in various outcomes such as separation of solitons with reduced, increased, unchanged, or asymmetric velocities and generation of a quiescent soliton by merger or formation of three solitons. For strong dispersive reflectivity (e.g., m=0.5), the collisions of low-velocity in-phase Type 1 solitons may lead to repulsion of solitons, asymmetric separation, merger into a single soliton, or formation of three solitons (one quiescent and two moving solitons). At higher velocities collisions predominantly lead to the formation of three solitons. For m=0.5, in-phase Type 2 solitons may repel or form a temporary bound state of quiescent Type 1 solitons that subsequently splits into two asymmetrically separating Type 1 solitons. π-out-of-phase Type 2 solitons may also merge to form a quiescent Type 1 soliton.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in coupled parametrically driven waveguides

We introduce a system of linearly coupled parametrically driven damped nonlinear Schrödinger equations, which models a laser based on a nonlinear dual-core waveguide with parametric amplification symmetrically applied to both cores. The model may also be realized in terms of parallel ferromagnetic films, in which the parametric gain is provided by an external field. We analyze spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) of fundamental and multiple solitons in this system, which was not studied systematically before in linearly coupled dissipative systems with intrinsic nonlinearity. For fundamental solitons, the analysis reveals three distinct SSB scenarios. Unlike the standard dual-core-fiber model, the present system gives rise to a vast bistability region, which may be relevant to applications. Other noteworthy findings are restabilization of the symmetric soliton after it was destabilized by the SSB bifurcation, and the existence of a generic situation with all solitons unstable in the single-component (decoupled) model, while both symmetric and asymmetric solitons may be stable in the coupled system. The stability of the asymmetric solitons is identified via direct simulations, while for symmetric and antisymmetric ones the stability is verified too through the computation of stability eigenvalues, families of antisymmetric solitons being entirely unstable. In this way, full stability maps for the symmetric solitons are produced. We also investigate the SSB bifurcation of two-soliton bound states (it breaks the symmetry between the two components, while the two peaks in the shape of the soliton remain mutually symmetric). The family of the asymmetric double-peak states may decouple from its symmetric counterpart, being no longer connected to it by the bifurcation, with a large portion of the asymmetric family remaining stable.

Symmetry breaking in linearly coupled dynamical lattices

We examine one- and two-dimensional models of linearly coupled lattices of the discrete-nonlinear-Schrödinger type. Analyzing ground states of the system with equal powers (norms) in the two components, we find a symmetry-breaking phenomenon beyond a critical value of the total power. Asymmetric states, with unequal powers in their components, emerge through a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation, which, for very weakly coupled lattices, changes into a supercritical one. We identify the stability of various solution branches. Dynamical manifestations of the symmetry breaking are studied by simulating the evolution of the unstable branches. The results present the first example of spontaneous symmetry breaking in two-dimensional lattice solitons. This feature has no counterpart in the continuum limit because of the collapse instability in the latter case.