SCISSOR solitons and other novel propagation effects in microresonator-modified waveguides

We consider the linear and nonlinear optical properties of an optical waveguide consisting of a side-coupled integrated spaced sequence of resonators (SCISSOR). This fully transmissive system possesses large and controllable dispersion because the phase shift imparted by each resonator is strongly frequency dependent. Additionally, near resonance, the circulating power in each resonator can greatly exceed the power carried by the waveguide, leading to greatly enhanced nonlinear effects. We show that the effects of nonlinearity and dispersion can be balanced to create temporal solitons and that many other novel and useful pulse propagation effects can occur over short propagation distances in such a structure. © 2002 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 190.4390, 190.5530, 130.4310, 130.3120.