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J S Aitchison

Publications and source records attributed to J S Aitchison.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Near-field imaging of nonlinear pulse propagation in planar silica waveguides.

A simplified near-field scanning optical microscope is employed to image the propagation of short laser pulses in planar silica waveguides, in the anomalous dispersion regime, under varying conditions of input beam power and width. Our results show a complex evolution of the transverse intensity profiles of the beam when there is a pronounced difference between the input diffraction and dispersion lengths. Numerical simulations confirm that these complex spatial dynamics are intimately related to the temporal and spectral evolution of the pulse.

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PubMed2005

Ultrafast deflection of spatial solitons in AlxGa(1-x)As slab waveguides.

We demonstrate ultrafast all-optical deflection of spatial solitons in an AlxGa(1-x)As slab waveguide, using 190 fs, 1550 nm pulses to generate and deflect the spatial soliton. The steering beam is focused onto the top of the waveguide near the soliton pathway, and the soliton is steered by refractive-index changes induced by optical Kerr, or free-carrier (Drude), effects. Angular deflections up to 8 mrad are observed.

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PubMed2005

Incoherent blocker soliton interactions in Kerr waveguide arrays.

We have observed the incoherent interaction between a highly confined (blocker) soliton and wide, moving signal beams of a different wavelength in a one-dimensional discrete Kerr medium. Digital switching of the blocker solitons to successive adjacent channels was measured with increasing signal power via both one and two cascaded interactions in an AlGaAs waveguide array, operations equivalent to a reconfigurable three-output router.

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PubMed2005

Beam interactions with a blocker soliton in one-dimensional arrays.

We investigate experimentally and numerically the interaction of a highly localized, single-channel discrete soliton (blocker) with a wide, tilted beam in a one-dimensional AlGaAs array. In agreement with theory the blocker is observed to discretely shift its position by multiple channels, depending on the intensity and relative phase of the tilted beam.

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PubMed2004

Nonlinear optical beam interactions in waveguide arrays.

We report our investigation of Kerr nonlinear beam interactions in discrete systems. The influence of power and the relative phase between two Gaussian shaped beams was investigated in detail by performing numerical simulations of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation and comparing the results with experiments done in AlGaAs waveguide arrays. Good agreement between theory and experiment was obtained.

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PubMed2004

Gap solitons in waveguide arrays.

Bright and dark spatial gap solitons are demonstrated in waveguide arrays. These gap solitons travel across the array at zero transverse velocity, in complete analogy with stationary (immobile) temporal gap solitons. Furthermore, the launching configuration for observing these stationary gap solitons is shown to be the analog of an "ideal experiment" for observing stationary temporal gap solitons, never observed so far. A clear distinction is established between the family of Floquet-Bloch solitons in general and discrete solitons in particular, and the limiting case of gap solitons.

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PubMed2003

Strong spatiotemporal localization in a silica nonlinear waveguide array.

We investigate the propagation of short, intense laser pulses in arrays of coupled silica waveguides, in the anomalous dispersion regime. The nonlinearity induces trapping of the pulse in a single waveguide, over a wide range of input parameters. A sharp transition is observed for single waveguide excitation, from strong diffraction at low powers to strong localization at high powers.

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PubMed2003

Discrete vector solitons in Kerr nonlinear waveguide arrays.

We report the first experimental observation of discrete vector solitons in AlGaAs nonlinear waveguide arrays. These self-trapped states are possible through the coexistence of two orthogonally polarized fields and are stable in spite of the presence of four-wave mixing effects. We demonstrate that at sufficiently high power levels the two polarizations lock into a highly localized vector discrete soliton that would have been otherwise impossible in the absence of either one of these two components.

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PubMed2003

Observation of mutually trapped multiband optical breathers in waveguide arrays.

Multiphoton fluorescence is used for the direct observation of a new class of breathers in waveguide arrays, which are a coherent superposition of Floquet-Bloch solitons of different bands. These Floquet-Bloch breathers oscillate along their spatial propagation axis, and possess several novel properties. Some behavior of these breathers is readily understood intuitively in terms of the band structure of the waveguide array and the properties of discrete solitons.

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PubMed2003

Interactions of discrete solitons with structural defects.

We investigated the interaction of discrete solitons with defect states fabricated in arrays of coupled waveguides. We achieved attractive and repulsive defects by decreasing and increasing, respectively, the spacing of one pair of waveguides in an otherwise uniform array. Linear and nonlinear propagation in the same samples show distinctly different properties. The role of the Peierls-Nabarro potential in the interaction of the soliton with the defect is discussed.

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PubMed2001

Kerr spatiotemporal self-focusing in a planar glass waveguide.

We observed simultaneous focusing in both space and time for light pulses propagating in a planar waveguide. In particular, 60 fs pulses with a width of 170 microm were injected into a planar glass waveguide in the anomalous dispersion regime. Output pulses as short as 30 fs and as narrow as 20 microm were measured. The results suggest that multiphoton absorption and intrapulse stimulated Raman scattering arrest the spatiotemporal contraction. The results were compared to the pulse evolution in zero and normal dispersion regimes and were shown to be significantly different. All of the experimental results were reproduced by a numerical model.

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PubMed2001

Self-focusing and defocusing in waveguide arrays.

We show that two regimes of diffraction exist in arrays of waveguides, depending upon the input conditions. At higher powers, normal diffraction leads to self-focusing and to the formation of bright solitons through the nonlinear Kerr effect. By slightly changing the input conditions, light experiences anomalous diffraction and is nonlinearly defocused. For the first time, self-focusing and self-defocusing have been achieved for the same medium, structure, and wavelength.

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