Ab initio dissipative solitons in an all-photonic crystal resonator

Abstract

We identify dissipative solitons in a Kerr-nonlinear all-photonic crystal resonator by solving Maxwell's equations directly. The photonic crystal allows for diffraction management, leading to solitons with unique properties. These results are compared to a mean-field model based on Bloch waves, finding excellent agreement even for a high-contrast photonic crystal. By adjusting the quality factor and resonance frequencies of the resonator, optimal Bloch cavity solitons in terms of width and pump energy are identified. In particular, the width is independent of the quality factor, in contrast to the usual homogeneous cavity. © 2011 American Physical Society.