Nonlinear coherent destruction of tunneling

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates how Kerr nonlinearity in coupled optical waveguides can suppress tunneling over a broad parameter range, introducing a new nonlinear phenomenon called nonlinear coherent destruction of tunneling.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of nonlinear coherent destruction of tunneling, demonstrating a broad suppression mechanism distinct from linear cases.

Findings

Tunneling can be suppressed over a wide parameter range due to nonlinearity.

The suppression differs from linear coherent destruction, which occurs only at a degeneracy point.

The study provides theoretical insight into nonlinear control of light in waveguides.

Abstract

We study theoretically two coupled periodically-curved optical waveguides with Kerr nonlinearity. We find that the tunneling between the waveguides can be suppressed in a wide range of parameters due to nonlinearity. Such suppression of tunneling is different from the coherent destruction of tunneling in a linear medium, which occurs only at the isolated degeneracy point of the quasienergies. We call this novel suppression nonlinear coherent destruction of tunneling.