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Bloch oscillations in optical dissipative lattices
Nikolaos K Efremidis1, Demetrios N Christodoulides
1School of Optics, Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA.
Optics Letters
|December 9, 2004
Summary
Bloch oscillations are achievable in optical waveguide lattices with gain or loss. This finding opens new avenues for controlling light propagation and suppressing noise in photonic systems.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Optics
- Photonics
Background:
- Bloch oscillations are fundamental quantum phenomena observed in periodic potentials.
- Dissipative systems introduce complexity, often hindering coherent phenomena like Bloch oscillations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the possibility of Bloch oscillations in dissipative optical waveguide lattices.
- To explore the role of a linearly varying propagation constant in enabling these oscillations.
- To demonstrate the potential for noise suppression in such systems.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of Bloch wave packet dynamics in dissipative optical lattices.
- Numerical simulations of light propagation in waveguide arrays with gain/loss.
- Consideration of experimental setups including laser arrays and semiconductor optical amplifiers.
Main Results:
- Bloch oscillations are demonstrated to be possible in dissipative optical waveguide lattices.
- These oscillations persist despite the presence of coupling gain and/or loss.
- The proposed systems exhibit the ability to suppress instabilities from preferential mode noise growth.
Conclusions:
- Dissipative optical waveguide lattices with a linearly varying propagation constant can support Bloch oscillations.
- This phenomenon offers a robust method for controlling light propagation in complex optical systems.
- The findings have implications for developing advanced photonic devices with enhanced stability and functionality.