17 research outputs found
Modulational instability in nonlocal nonlinear Kerr media
We study modulational instability (MI) of plane waves in nonlocal nonlinear
Kerr media. For a focusing nonlinearity we show that, although the nonlocality
tends to suppress MI, it can never remove it completely, irrespectively of the
particular profile of the nonlocal response function. For a defocusing
nonlinearity the stability properties depend sensitively on the response
function profile: for a smooth profile (e.g., a Gaussian) plane waves are
always stable, but MI may occur for a rectangular response. We also find that
the reduced model for a weak nonlocality predicts MI in defocusing media for
arbitrary response profiles, as long as the intensity exceeds a certain
critical value. However, it appears that this regime of MI is beyond the
validity of the reduced model, if it is to represent the weakly nonlocal limit
of a general nonlocal nonlinearity, as in optics and the theory of
Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Variational Approach to the Modulational Instability
We study the modulational stability of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation
(NLS) using a time-dependent variational approach. Within this framework, we
derive ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the time evolution of the
amplitude and phase of modulational perturbations. Analyzing the ensuing ODEs,
we re-derive the classical modulational instability criterion. The case
(relevant to applications in optics and Bose-Einstein condensation) where the
coefficients of the equation are time-dependent, is also examined
Modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in a dual-wavelength dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring laser
We report on the observation of modulation instability induced by cross-phase
modulation in a dual-wavelength operation dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring
laser with net negative cavity dispersion. The passively mode-locked operation
is achieved by using nonlinear polarization rotation technique. A new type of
dual-wavelength operation, where one is femtosecond pulse and the other is
picosecond pulse operation, is obtained by properly rotating the polarization
controllers. When the dual-wavelength pulses are simultaneously circulating in
the laser ring cavity, a series of stable modulation sidebands appears in the
picosecond pulse spectrum at longer wavelength with lower peak power due to
modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation between the two lasing
wavelengths. Moreover, the intensities and wavelength shifts of the modulation
sidebands can be tuned by varying the power of the femtosecond pulse or the
lasing central wavelengths of the dual-wavelength pulses. The theoretical
analysis of the modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in our
fiber laser is also presented.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure