Stable numerical schemes for nonlinear dispersive equations with counter-propagation and gain dynamics

Chang Sun, Niall Mangan, Mark Dong, Herbert G. Winful, Steven T. Cundiff, J. Nathan Kutz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop a stable and efficient numerical scheme for modeling the optical field evolution in a nonlinear dispersive cavity with counter-propagating waves and complex, semiconductor physics gain dynamics that is expensive to evaluate. Our stability analysis is characterized by a von Neumann analysis that shows that many standard numerical schemes are unstable due to competing physical effects in the propagation equations. We show that the combination of a predictor–corrector scheme with an operator splitting not only results in a stable scheme, but also provides a highly efficient, single-stage evaluation of the gain dynamics. Given that the gain dynamics is the rate-limiting step of the algorithm, our method circumvents the numerical instability induced by the other cavity physics when evaluating the gain in an efficient manner. We demonstrate the stability and efficiency of the algorithm on a diode laser model that includes three waveguides and semiconductor gain dynamics. The laser is able to produce a repeating temporal waveform and stable optical comb lines, thus demonstrating that frequency comb generation may be possible in chip-scale, diode lasers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3263-3274
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics
Volume36
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Funding

J. N. Kutz acknowledges support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This research was also developed in part with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the SCOUT program. The views, opinions, and/or findings expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. This research was also supported in part through computational resources and services provided by Advanced Research Computing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. M. Dong’s affiliation with The MITRE Corporation is provided for identification purposes only and is not intended to convey or imply MITRE’s concurrence with, or support for, the positions, opinions, or viewpoints expressed by the author. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-17-1-0200); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (SCOUT). Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Acknowledgment. J. N. Kutz acknowledges support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This research was also developed in part with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the SCOUT program. The views, opinions, and/or findings expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. This research was also supported in part through computational resources and services provided by Advanced Research Computing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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