Switching dynamics of short optical pulses in a nonlinear directional coupler

It has been shown recently that the propagation of short optical pulses in a nonlinear directional coupler consisting of two parallel waveguides or fibers should be described more generally by a pair of coupled nonlinear equations that take into account the dispersion properties of the coupling coefficient. In this paper, we use the Fourier series analysis method to solve these equations, and study the effects of a dispersive coupling coefficient on the switching dynamics of short optical pulses in a nonlinear directional coupler. We demonstrate, with numerical examples, that a dispersive coupling coefficient could cause significant pulse distortion and affect the threshold switching intensity. The effects of introducing frequency chirps in the input pulses are also discussed.