Transfer of light waves in optical waveguides via a continuum

Abstract

Classical wave optical analogs of coherent population transfer via a continuum, recently demonstrated for laser-driven atoms and molecules in the atomic physics context, are theoretically proposed for light waves propagating in waveguide-based photonic structures. In particular, it is shown that exploitation of the optical analogs of two-photon Rabi oscillations and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage via continuous states enables efficient transfer of light waves between two channel optical waveguides side coupled to a slab waveguide.