Soliton interaction in a nonlinear waveguide in the presence of resonances- art. no. 016610

The simultaneous propagation of two optical pulses through a nonlinear disp ersive medium composed of a resonant three-level system is investigated. By choosing a soliton of area 4 pi and order N=2 at the pump frequency, toget her with a weaker pulse with a sech profile at the signal frequency, we sho w that the pump soliton breaks up into a pair of solitary waves which are c loned to the signal frequency. Due to a combination of coherent population trapping and nonlinear dispersive effects, the pair interacts in a repulsiv e fashion so that the taller wave travels faster than the shorter one.