Abstract

Dark solitons are nonlinear optical waves in self-defocusing media that are easily excited in experiments¹ and, what is more, very robust even in bulk media.² These waves have many useful and intriguing properties that allow them to be used in photonic devices, such as interconnects, logic gates, and modulators, which we have discussed previously.³ The band properties of solitons permit even more opportunities for exploring applications schemes. Each dark soliton is characterized by an eigenvalue λ_s that is related to its angle of propagation with respect to the optical axis, tan θ = λ_s (Δn/n₀)^1/2, where Δn/n₀ is the relative nonlinear index change.⁴ The solitons can be excited by passing a beam

© 1993 Optical Society of America