SWITCHING DYNAMICS OF FINITE PERIODIC NONLINEAR MEDIA - A NUMERICAL STUDY

Using a coupled-mode approach we numerically investigate the time-dependent properties of nonlinear periodic media of finite length. Based on time-independent considerations such media have been shown previously to exhibit bistable behavior and to support gap soliton excitations. Our calculations show that for low intensities the transition from a low-transmission to a high-transmission state occurs as expected, leading to an easy excitation of gap solitons. At higher intensities, however, periodic self-oscillations take place, which eventually turn chaotic. © 1990 The American Physical Society.