Nonlinear properties of a multi-layer stack of graphene sheets are studied. It is predicted that such a structure may support dissipative plasmon-solitons generated and supported by an external laser radiation. Novel nonlinear equations describing spatial dynamics of the nonlinear plasmons driven by a plane wave in the Otto configuration are derived and the existence of single and multi-hump dissipative solitons in the graphene structure is predicted.
Time crystals are periodic states exhibiting spontaneous symmetry breaking in either time-independent or periodically forced quantum many-body systems. Spontaneous modification of discrete time translation symmetry in a periodically driven physical system can create a discrete time crystal (DTC). DTCs constitute a state of matter with properties such as temporal rigid long-range order and coherence which are inherently desirable for quantum computing and quantum information processing. Despite their appeal, experimental demonstrations of DTCs are scarce and hence many significant aspects of their behavior remain unexplored. Here, we report the experimental observation and theoretical investigation of photonic DTCs in a Kerr-nonlinear optical microcavity. Empowered by the simultaneous self-injection locking of two independent lasers with arbitrarily large frequency separation to two cavity modes and a dissipative soliton, this room-temperature all-optical platform enables observing novel states like DTCs carrying defects, and realizing long-awaited phenomena such as DTC phase transitions and mutual interactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of a dissipative DTCs, as well as the concurrent self-injection locking of two continuous-wave lasers to different modes of a Kerr cavity. Combined with monolithic fabrication, it can result in chip-scale DTCs, paving the way for liberating time crystals from sophisticated laboratory setups and propelling them toward real-world applications.
Recent advances in realizing optical frequency combs using nonlinear parametric processes in integrated photonic resonators have revolutionized on-chip optical clocks, spectroscopy, and multi-channel optical communications. At the same time, the introduction of topological physics in photonic systems has provided a new paradigm to engineer the flow of photons, and thereby, design photonic devices with novel functionalities and inherent robustness against fabrication disorders. Here, we use topological design principles to theoretically propose the generation of optical frequency combs and temporal Kerr solitons in a two-dimensional array of coupled ring resonators that creates a synthetic magnetic field for photons and exhibits topological edge states. We show that these topological edge states constitute a traveling-wave super-ring resonator that leads to the generation of coherent nested optical frequency combs, and self-formation of nested temporal solitons and Turing rolls that are remarkably phase-locked over >40 rings. In the nested soliton regime, our system operates as a pulsed optical frequency comb and achieves a mode efficiency of >50%, an order of magnitude higher than single ring frequency combs that are theoretically limited to only ~5%. Furthermore, we show that the topological nested solitons are robust against defects in the lattice. This topological frequency comb works in a parameter regime that can be readily accessed using existing low loss integrated photonic platforms like silicon-nitride. Our results could pave the way for efficient on-chip optical frequency combs, and investigations of various other soliton solutions in conjunction with synthetic gauge fields and topological phenomena in large arrays of coupled resonators.
The generation of squeezed light in semiconductor materials opens opportunities for building on-chip devices that are operated at the quantum level. Here we study theoretically a squeezed light source of polariton dark solitons confined in a geometric potential well of semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. We show that polariton dark solitons of odd and even parities can be created by tuning the potential depth. When driving the potential depth linearly, a bistability of solitons with the two different parities can be induced. Strong intensity squeezing is obtained near the turning point of the bistability due to the large nonlinear interaction, which can be controlled by Feshbach resonance. The phase diagram of the bistability and squeezing of the dark solitons is obtained through large scale numerical calculations. Our study contributes to the current efforts in realizing topological excitations and squeezed light sources with solid-state devices.
In the present work we theoretically investigated the excitation of surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) in deformed graphene by attenuated total reflection method. We considered the Otto geometry for SPPs excitation in graphene. Efficiency of SPPs excitation strongly depends on the SPPs propagation direction. The frequency and the incident angle of the most effective excitation of SPPs strongly depend on the polarization of the incident light. Our results may open up the new possibilities for strain-induced molding flow of light at nanoscales.
We describe an effective resonant interaction between two localized wave modes of different nature: a plasmon-polariton at a metal surface and a self-focusing beam (spatial soliton) in a non-linear dielectric medium. Propagating in the same direction, they represent an exotic coupled-waveguide system, where the resonant interaction is controlled by the soliton amplitude. This non-linear system manifests hybridized plasmon-soliton eigenmodes, mutual conversion, and non-adiabatic switching, which offer exciting opportunities for manipulation of plasmons via spatial solitons.