FOR 532

Nonlinear spatio-temporal dynamics in dissipative and discrete optical systems

The Research Unit aims at analyzing and understanding spatio-temporal localization effects in complex nonlinear optical systems in order to control them and to achieve novel optical functionalities.The peculiarities of these systems are their persistent energy exchange with the environment and/or their discreteness. Energy exchange (or dissipation) affects to a large extent the action of the nonlinearity and the features of the nonlinear solutions whereas discreteness offers new opportunities to control the linear properties of the system. Thus the interplay of both effects will lead to a plethora of new solutions being the focus of our research. In order to identify the wealth of the underlying physics we look at various optical systems such as fiber arrays, optically generated arrays in solid material with different nonlinearities, and coupled ensembles of micro- and nanostructured resonators. Moreover, the concept of discreteness is extended to the temporal and spectral domain.
The research spans from very fundamental issues as e.g. photonic Bloch oscillations in the spectral domain, the formation of stable discrete-continuous light bullets in waveguide arrays and of cavity solitons in optical metamaterials to issues with large application potential as e.g. the complete understanding and control of pulse dynamics in mode-locked fiber lasers and the ultrafast regeneration of optical pulses.

Projects

• Spatio-temporal localization in dissipative and discrete systems
• Discrete spatio-temporal dynamics in waveguide arrays with cubic nonlinearity
• Discrete spatio-temporal dynamics in nonlinear microstructured resonators
• Dissipative temporal structures in mode-locked fibre lasers
• Discrete spatio-temporal dynamics in waveguide arrays with quadratic nonlinearity
• Discreteness, nonlinearity and dissipation in the temporal domain
• Generation of Femtosecond Vortex Beams, Self-channeling, and Filamentation in Gaseous Media

 

Funded by the German Research Foundation

 

 

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