Abstract

Pulse propagation in a non-uniform resonant medium, e.g., a periodic array of resonant films, can destroy self-induced transparency (SIT), because the pulse area is then split between the forward and backward (reflected) coupled waves, and is no longer conserved. Should we then anticipate severely hampered transmission through a medium whose resonance lies in a reflective spectral domain (photonic band gap) of a periodically- layered structure (a Bragg reflector)? We have shown both analytically and numerically that it is possible for the pulse to overcome the band-gap reflection and produce SIT in a near-resonant medium embedded in a Bragg reflector.¹ The predicted SIT propagation is a principally new type of a gap soliton.

© 1998 Optical Society of America