All-optical switching of solitons in an active nonlinear directional coupler

A numerical study of the all-optical switching properties of an active nonlinear directional coupler is presented. The switching power is reduced for both CW and soliton inputs because of the gain. The switching properties of the coupler are enhanced for solitons, which switch nearly completely. For ultrashort pulses, the effects of the bandwidth of the gain medium are considered by using a general form for the gain band. The gain spectrum of erbium is also considered as a specific example.