Quantized pumping in disordered nonlinear Thouless pumps

TL;DR

This paper explores how nonlinear optical Thouless pumps maintain quantized soliton displacement despite disorder, and how nonlinearity enables faster pump cycles, informing the design of non-reciprocal devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates that nonlinear effects preserve quantized transport in disordered Thouless pumps and allow for quicker operation, which was not known in the linear regime.

Findings

Quantization persists despite disorder in nonlinear pumps.

Nonlinearity enables faster, less adiabatic pump cycles.

Potential applications in integrated non-reciprocal devices.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of nonlinear optical Thouless pumps in the presence of disorder, using optical waveguide arrays. It was previously known that the displacement of solitons in Thouless pumps is quantized and may exhibit integer and fractional transport over the course of the pump cycle. Here, we demonstrate that, in disordered nonlinear pumps, quantization may be maintained despite the presence of disorder, even though it would not be in the linear domain. Moreover, nonlinearity allows pumps to be executed more quickly (i.e., less adiabatically). This may serve as a design principle for integrated non-reciprocal devices based on temporal modulation.