Splitting white light into its constituent spectral components has been of interest ever since Newton first discovered the phenomenon of color separation.Many devices have since been conceived to achieve efficient wavelength separation,yet a large number of applications,e.g.,in display technology,still use simple color absorption or rejection filters that absorb or reflect unwanted wavelengths,thus wasting luminous energy.Here,we demonstrate a novel microsized device concept that enables efficient color routing.The device operation is based on differential material dispersion in a waveguide array,which causes different wavelength signals to couple selectively into appropriate waveguides.A theoretical power delivery of greater than 50%for a tricolor wavelength router is obtained,compared to 33%expected from geometry alone.The principle of operation is demonstrated experimentally for a dual-color light field,where we achieve a higher than 70%routing efficiency(compared to 50%from geometry),thus highlighting the feasibility of this novel and promising approach.
Yi-Kun LiuSi-Cong WangYong-Yao LiLi-Yan SongXiang-Sheng XieMing-Neng FengZhi-Ming XiaoShao-Zhi DengJian-Ying ZhouJun-Tao LiKam Sing WongThomas F Krauss
We study the interactions of moving discrete solitons in waveguide arrays with two types of point defects that are constructed by varying either the local linear coupling or local waveguide propagation constant at the center of the waveguide array. A broad discrete soliton is kicked toward the defect and interacts with it. Transmission, reflection, scattering, and trapping during the interaction between the soliton and the defect occur depending on the parameters. The detailed behavior of the soliton dynamics is analyzed numerically. A transmission window in the parameter domain is found and the behavior of this window for different parameters is studied. The dynamics of the soliton in the transmission window is found to have chaotic features under certain circumstances and the causes of these phenomena are identified and discussed.
