Stability band structure for periodic states in periodic potentials

Abstract

A class of periodic solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with non-Hermitian potentials are considered. The system may be implemented in planar nonlinear optical waveguides carrying an appropriate distribution of local gain and loss, in a combination with a photonic-crystal structure. The complex potential is built as a solution of the inverse problem, which predicts the potential supporting required periodic solutions. The main subject of the analysis is the spectral structure of the linear (in)stability for the stationary spatially periodic states in the periodic potentials. The stability and instability bands are calculated by means of the plane-wave-expansion method, and verified in direct simulations of the perturbed evolution. The results show that the periodic solutions may be stable against perturbations in specific Floquet–Bloch bands, even if they are unstable against small random perturbations.