Self-phase modulation effects in slow-wave structures

A slow-wave structure (SWS) consists of a series of directly-coupled Fabry-Perot or micro-ring resonators, in which light can propagate only at certain frequencies in a band around the resonances of the structure. In the case of pulse propagation, the interplay of nonlinearity and anomalous dispersion can be deployed to make solitary waves propagate undistorted along an high number of resonators. It is possible to significantly enhance nonlinear phase modulation by exploiting the slowing down of the optical propagation as well as to deploy the SWS spectral response to generate SPM based nonlinear effects which can have interesting application in the field of the optical processing.