Anisotropic effects in nonlinear optical waveguides

A multiple scales method of analysing nonlinear guided-wave propagation in waveguides containing nonlinear dispersive anisotropic lossless materials is described. The procedure leads to systems of coupled wave equations which are generally in explicit Hamiltonian form. A specific system of third-order nonresonant nonlinearity in gallium arsenide with cleaved facets along (1 (1) over bar0) planes and waveguide propagation along [110] directions is illustrated. Nonlinear CW stationary waves occurring in the most general system of two orthogonally polarised linear modes with slightly different propagation coefficients interacting through a third-order nonlinearity are classified, and their stability analysed with respect to both time-independent and time-dependent perturbations. It is shown that there are in general six different stationary states that may exist for a given total intensity of the wave. The qualitative dynamics and stability of these states are analysed using a geometrical representation of the Hamiltonian dynamics in a three-dimensional real space called Stokes space. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.