Gap Solitons and Spin-Dependent Polarization Modulation in Resonant Photonic Bandgap Structures

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

This research project focuses on the formation of resonant gap solitons in a Resonant Photonic BandGap (RPBG) structure, which until now have only been explored in theory. In the linear regime, resonant optical pulses are efficiently reflected from RPBG structures. In the nonlinear regime, it has been predicted that an optical pulse propagates through the RPBG structure as a self-induced-transparency gap soliton without loss, or is trapped by the structure. A single optical pulse with duration of hundreds of femtoseconds, picoseconds, or even nanoseconds (depending on the characteristics of the two-level system) can be self-trapped in a RPBG structure and stored as a coherent polarization state. The broader impact involves education of both graduate and undergraduate students as well as applications in optical switching.