RESUMO
We present an optofluidic nonlinear waveguide array that is fabricated by selectively filling several strands of a photonic crystal fiber with the liquid CCl(4), which exhibits a large focusing ultrafast Kerr nonlinearity. We demonstrate a power dependent formation of a spatial soliton in this novel optofluidic device. The large thermo-optical effect of liquids enables us to control the characteristics of the spatial soliton formation in these nonlinear structures. This opens the road toward flexible designs and the realization of a new class of optofluidic devices with complex nonlinear landscapes and novel effects.
RESUMO
We present an optofluidic nonlinear coupler fabricated by selective filling of two strands of a photonic crystal fiber with the liquid CCl4 which exhibits a large ultrafast Kerr nonlinearity. We demonstrate power dependent switching in this novel optofluidic device. The large thermo-optical effect of liquids enables us to tune the behavior of the nonlinear coupler by changing the coupling strength with temperature. This opens the road towards flexible designs and realization of a new class of tunable ultrafast nonlinear couplers with switching times below 1 ps.
RESUMO
We demonstrate by numerical simulations of coupled generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations that the input pulse duration as well as the retarded material response have a crucial impact on the properties of an ultrafast nonlinear optofluidic fiber coupler. This device is composed of two waveguides in close vicinity embedded in a photonic crystal fiber which are filled with a highly nonlinear liquid. We show that in particular the critical peak power above which the coupling between the waveguides is suppressed increases dramatically for short input pulses and long characteristic response times of the liquid. We establish a simple model which describes these effects with high accuracy.
