Analytical Study on Propagation Dynamics of Optical Beam in Parity-Time Symmetric Optical Couplers

We present exact analytical solutions to parity-time (PT) symmetric optical system describing light transport in PT-symmetric optical couplers. We show that light intensity oscillates periodically between two waveguides for unbroken PT-symmetric phase, whereas light always leaves the system from the waveguide experiencing gain when light is initially input at either waveguide experiencing gain or waveguide experiencing loss for broken PT-symmetric phase. These analytical results agree with the recent experimental observation reported by Rü ter et al. Nat. Phys. 6 (2010) 192]. Besides, we present a scheme for manipulating PT symmetry by applying a periodic modulation. Our results provide an efficient way to control light propagation in periodically modulated PT-symmetric system by tuning the modulation amplitude and frequency.