Coexistence of a self-induced transparency soliton and a Bragg soliton.

Abstract

We theoretically show that a self-induced transparency (SIT) soliton and a Bragg soliton can coexist in a nonlinear photonic band gap (PBG) medium doped uniformly with inhomogeneous-broadening two-level atoms. The Maxwell-Bloch equations for the pulse propagating through such a uniformly doped PBG structure are derived first and further reduced to an effective nonlinear Schrödinger equation. This model describes an equivalent physical mechanism for a Bragg-soliton propagation resulting from the effective quadratic dispersion balancing with the effective third-order nonlinearity. Because the resonant atoms are taken into account, the original band gap can be shifted both by the dopants and the instantaneous nonlinearity response originating from an intense optical pulse. As a result, even if a SIT soliton with its central frequency deep inside the original forbidden band, it still can propagate through the resonant PBG medium as long as this SIT soliton satisfies the effective Bragg-soliton propagation. An approximate soliton solution describing such coexistence is found. We also show that the pulse width and group velocity of this soliton solution can be uniquely determined for given material parameters, atomic transition frequency, and input central frequency of the soliton. The numerical examples of the SIT soliton in a one-dimensional As2S3-based PBG structure doped uniformly with Lorentzian line-shape resonant atoms are shown. It is found that a SIT soliton with approximately 100-ps width in such a resonant PBG structure can travel with the velocity being two orders of magnitude slower than the light speed in an unprocessed host medium.