Coherent perfect absorber and laser for nonlinear waves in optical waveguide arrays

Abstract

A localized non-Hermitian potential can operate as a coherent perfect absorber or as a laser for nonlinear waves. The effect is illustrated for an array of optical waveguides, with the central waveguide being either active or absorbing. The arrays situated to the left and to the right from the center can have different characteristics. The result is generalized to setups with the central waveguide carrying additional nonlinear dissipation or gain and to the two-dimensional arrays with embedded one-dimensional absorbing or lasing sub-arrays.

to appear in Optics Letters

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• A universal form of complex potentials with spectral singularities
• Spectral singularities and tunable slab lasers with 2D material coating
• Solving scattering problems in the half-line using methods developed for scattering in the full line
• A universal form of arrays with spectral singularities
• Perfectly absorbed and emitted currents by complex potentials in nonlinear media
• Asymmetric perfect absorption and lasing of nonlinear waves by a complex $\delta$-potential