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We report that conventional saturable periodic structures, in sharp contrast to the conventional systems with different nonlinearities which exhibit the typical S- shaped optical bi- and multi-stable states, reveal some unusual and unique nonlinear dynamics. These include the onset of ramp-like optical bistability (OB) and optical multistability (OM) curves which further transit into mixed OM states combining both ramp-like states followed by the S-shaped multistable curves. We also extend this study to another domain of physics, namely parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$)- symmetry, by including equal amount of gain and loss into the system which then establishes additional degree of freedom by enabling the investigation into additional two domains which are the unbroken and broken $\mathcal{PT}$- symmetric regimes. Although these bi- and multi-stable states are unusual and unique, when the frequency detuning is introduced, the revival of S-shaped stable states is possible but only in the presence of unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$- symmetry. Conversely, the broken $\mathcal{PT}$- symmetry which usually generates ramp-like multistable states, gives rise to the birth of novel multistable states with a vortex like envelope, (the curve that features simultaneous increase in the critical switch-up and switch-down powers with an increase in the input power) causing a novel structure which has not been reported in the existing literature of different physical systems manifesting multi-stable states., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2404.13724, arXiv:2404.13828

In this work, we observe that the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric fiber Bragg gratings (PTFBGs) with saturable nonlinearity (SNL) exhibit ramp-like, mixed, optical multistability (OM) in the broken regime. The interplay between nonlinearity and detuning parameter plays a central role in transforming the characteristics of the hysteresis curves and facilitates the realization of different OM curves. Also, it plays a crucial role in reducing the switch-up and down intensities of various stable branches of an OM curve. In a mixed OM curve, either the ramp-like hysteresis curves or S-like hysteresis curves can appear predominantly depending on the magnitude of the detuning parameter. An increase in the device length or nonlinearity increases the number of stable states for fixed values of input intensity. Under a reversal in the direction of light incidence, the ramp-like OM and mixed OM curves assume an unusual vortex-like envelope at lower intensities. Numerical simulations reveal that the switch-up and down intensities of different stable branches of a ramp-like OM and mixed OM curves drift towards the higher and lower intensity sides, respectively (opposite direction). The drift is severe to the extent that an intermediate hysteresis curve features switch-down action at near-zero switching intensities. Also, the input intensities required to realize ramp-like, and mixed OM curves reduce dramatically under a reversal in the direction of light incidence., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures

In this work, we predict that periodic structures without gain and loss do not exhibit an S-shaped hysteresis curve in the presence of saturable nonlinearity (SNL). Instead, the input-output characteristics of the system admit ramp-like optical bistability (OB) and multistability (OM) curves that are unprecedented in the context of conventional periodic structures in the literature. An increase in the nonlinearity (NL) or the gain-loss parameter increases the switch-up and down intensities of different stable branches in a ramp-like OM curve. Revival of the typical S-shaped hysteresis curve requires the device to work under the combined influence of frequency detuning and $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry. An increase in the detuning, NL and gain-loss parameters reduces the switching intensities of the S-shaped OB (OM) curves. During the process, mixed OM curves that feature a fusion between ramp-like and S-shaped OM curves emanate at low values of the detuning parameter in the input-output characteristics. The detuning parameter values for which ramp-like, S-shaped, and mixed OM appear varies with the NL coefficient. For a given range of input intensities, the number of stable states admitted by the system increases with the device length or NL. When the laser light enters the device from the opposite end of the grating, nonreciprocal switching occurs at ultra-low intensities via an interplay between NL, detuning, and gain-loss parameters., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures

In the context of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric fiber Bragg gratings, tailoring the nonlinear profile along the propagation coordinate serves to be a new direction for realizing low-power all-optical switches. The scheme is fruitful only when the nonlinearity profile will be either linearly decreasing or increasing form. If the rate of variation of the nonlinearity profile is high, the critical intensities fall below the input power of value 0.01 in the unbroken regime provided that the light launching direction is right. Nowadays, every new theoretical inception into the PTFBG has started making sense of switching in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime which was once believed to be the instability regime. When the inhomogeneous nonlinearity acts together with the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and right light incidence, it leads to two peculiar settings. First, the switch-up intensities are ultra-low. Second, the switch-down action takes place at zero critical intensities. Such OB curves are unprecedented in the context of conventional gratings and found only in plasmonic devices and anti-directional couplers. Even though the nonlinearity is inhomogeneous, the ramp-like first stable states persist in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime giving an additional indication that the broken PTFBG is closely associated with the plasmonic structures. In the existing PTFBG systems, the switching intensities are relatively higher in the broken regime. However, the proposed system records the lowest switching intensities in the broken regime. The reported intensities ($< 0.005$) are also the lowest ever-switching intensities recorded in the perspective of PTFBGs to date., Comment: Journal of the Optical Society of America B

The central theme of this article is the analysis of the usefulness of introducing four-wave mixing or modulation of Kerr nonlinearity in a nonuniform grating structure with gain and loss. To do so, we propose an inhomogeneous system in which the nonlinearity of the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric grating is modulated. It is proven that the proposed scheme can be fruitful only if the nonlinearity and its associated modulation terms are assumed to be self-defocusing ones. In order to cut down the intensity required for the steering, the sign of chirping is taken to be negative and the wavelength of operating light is considered to be higher than the Bragg wavelength. Alongside these settings, launching the light from the rear end of the device dramatically reduces the critical intensity to a value of 0.015 (approximately) which must be the lowest switching intensity ever reported in the context of nonlinear $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric gratings. The ramp-like stable states in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime prevail even in the company of modulation in the nonlinearity index for both of the light incident directions., Comment: To appear in JOSA B

A comb spectrum generating device based on Bragg grating superstructures with gain and loss is suggested in this paper. It includes a comprehensive analysis of the device formulation, generation and manipulation of the comb spectrum with a number of degrees of freedom such as duty cycle, sampling period and gain-loss parameter. For applications such as RF traversal filters and tunable multi-wavelength laser sources, the reflected intensities of the comb resulting from the superstructures should have uniform intensities, and this is guaranteed by optimizing the physical length of the device, gain and loss in the unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime. Alternatively, it can be accomplished by reducing the duty cycle ratio of the superstructure to extremely small values in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime. Such a customization will degrade the reflectivity of the conventional grating superstructures, while it gives rise to narrow spectral lines with high reflectivity in the proposed system. Remarkably, combs with an inverted envelope are generated for larger values of gain and loss., Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. A

We report the spectral features of a phase-shifted parity and time ($\mathcal{PT}$)-symmetric fiber Bragg grating (PPTFBG) and demonstrate its functionality as a demultiplexer in the unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime. The length of the proposed system is of the order of millimeters and the lasing spectra in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime can be easily tuned in terms of intensity, bandwidth and wavelength by varying the magnitude of the phase shift in the middle of the structure. Surprisingly, the multi-modal lasing spectra are suppressed by virtue of judiciously selected phase and the gain-loss value. Also, it is possible to obtain sidelobe-less spectra in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime, without a need for an apodization profile, which is a traditional way to tame the unwanted sidelobes. The system is found to show narrow band single-mode lasing behavior for a wide range of phase shift values for given values of gain and loss. Moreover, we report the intensity tunable reflection and transmission characteristics in the unbroken regime via variation in gain and loss. At the exceptional point, the system shows unidirectional wave transport phenomenon independent of the presence of phase shift in the middle of the grating. For the right light incidence direction, the system exhibits zero reflection wavelengths within the stopband at the exceptional point. We also investigate the role of multiple phase shifts placed at fixed locations along the length of the FBG and the variations in the spectra when the phase shift and gain-loss values are tuned. In the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime, the presence of multiple phase shifts aids in controlling the number of reflectivity peaks besides controlling their magnitude., Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. A

The unique spectral behavior exhibited by a class of non-uniform Bragg periodic structures, namely chirped and apodized fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) influenced by parity and time reversal ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, is presented. The interplay between the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and nonuniformities brings exceptional functionalities in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase such as wavelength selective amplification and single-mode lasing for a wide range of variations in gain-loss. We observe that the device is no more passive and it undergoes a series of transitions from asymmetric reflection to unidirectional invisibility and multi-mode amplification as a consequence of variation in the imaginary part of the strength of modulation in different apodization profiles, namely Gaussian and raised cosine, at the given value of chirping. The chirping affords bandwidth control as well as control over the magnitude of the reflected (transmitted) light. Likewise, apodization offers additional functionality in the form of suppression of uncontrolled lasing behavior in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime besides moderating the reflected signals outside the band edges of the spectra., Comment: Accepted for Publication in Phys. Rev. A

We explore the consequences of incorporating parity and time reversal ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetries on the dynamics of nonreciprocal light propagation exhibited by a class of nonuniform periodic structures known as chirped $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The interplay among various grating parameters such as chirping, detuning, nonlinearities, and gain/loss gives rise to unique bi- and multi-stable states in the unbroken as well as broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regimes. The role of chirping on the steering dynamics of the hysteresis curve is influenced by the type of nonlinearities and the nature of detuning parameter. Also, incident directions of the input light robustly impact the steering dynamics of bistable and multistable states both in the unbroken and broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regimes. When the light launching direction is reversed, critical stable states are found to occur at very low intensities which opens up a new avenue for an additional way of controlling light with light. We also analyze the phenomenon of unidirectional wave transport and the reflective bi- and multi-stable characteristics at the so-called $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry breaking point., Comment: Accepted for Publication in Phys. Rev. A

We report the role of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry in switching characteristics of a highly nonlinear fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with cubic-quintic-septic nonlinearities. We demonstrate that the device shows novel bi-(multi-) stable states in the broken regime as a direct consequence of the shift in the photonic band gap influenced by both $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and higher-order nonlinearities. We also numerically depict that such FBGs provide a productive test bed where the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime can be exploited to set up all-optical applications such as binary switches, multi-level signal processing and optical computing. Unlike optical bistability (OB) in the traditional and unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric FBG, it exhibits many peculiar features such as flat-top stable states and ramp like input-output characteristics before the onset of OB phenomenon in the broken regime. The gain/loss parameter plays a dual role in controlling the switching intensities between the stable states which is facilitated by reversing the direction of light incidence. We also find that the gain/loss parameter tailors the formation of gap solitons pertaining to transmission resonances which clearly indicates that it can be employed to set up optical storage devices. Moreover, the interplay between gain/loss and higher order nonlinearities brings notable changes in the nonlinear reflection spectra of the system under constant pump powers. The influence of each control parameters on the switching operation is also presented in a nutshell to validate that FBG offers more degrees of freedom in controlling light with light., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A