Robust transmission stabilization and dynamic switching in broadband hybrid waveguide systems with nonlinear gain and loss

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid waveguide system with nonlinear gain and loss that stabilizes optical soliton transmission and enables dynamic switching, outperforming uniform waveguides in stability and flexibility.

Contribution

The study develops a hybrid waveguide design and a Lotka-Volterra model to enhance transmission stability and enable dynamic switching of optical solitons.

Findings

Stable transmission over ten times longer distances.

Successful demonstration of multiple dynamic switching events.

Hybrid waveguides outperform uniform waveguides in stability and switching capabilities.

Abstract

We develop a method for transmission stabilization and robust dynamic switching for colliding optical soliton sequences in broadband waveguide systems with nonlinear gain and loss. The method is based on employing hybrid waveguides, consisting of spans with linear gain and cubic loss, and spans with linear loss, cubic gain, and quintic loss. We show that amplitude dynamics is described by a hybrid Lotka-Volterra (LV) model, and use the model to determine the physical parameter values required for enhanced transmission stabilization and switching. Numerical simulations with the coupled nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations confirm the predictions of the LV model, and show stable transmission over distances larger by an order of magnitude compared with uniform waveguides with linear gain and cubic loss. Moreover, multiple on-off and off-on dynamic switching events are demonstrated over a wide range of soliton amplitudes, showing the superiority of hybrid waveguides compared with static switching in uniform waveguides, considered in earlier studies.