Abstract

Passive or active waveguides coupled to form an array have many applications [1, 2]. Because the output characteristics can be changed by tuning the input power, a waveguide array based on optical fibers called the Nonlinear Fiber Array (NFA) may permit ultrafast, all-optical switching. Such a device was first proposed in Ref. [3]. Recently it was shown that when group velocity dispersion becomes important in NFA’s, nonlinearity, dispersion, and the discrete effect of linear coupling along the array balance permitting the stable propagation of multidimensional light bullets [4]. In this paper we show that these beams can be exploited in NFA’s for all-optical-information-processing. To steer a signal on the dispersive NFA, phase shifts can be introduced to initiate translation along the array of fibers. As the light energy propagates, a quasi-collapse phenomenon begins to localize it. Once the energy is localized over a few fibers, its translation along the array is stopped. The output fiber is selected by the combination of launch speed, which is a function of the gradient of the phase shift along the array, and localization rate, which is a function of the initial power.

© 1995 Optical Society of America