A variational analysis of soliton switching in an NLDC with saturating non-linearity

A comparative analysis of soliton switching in a non-linear directional coupler with saturating non-linearity is carried out by a variational method. Two models of fractional non-linearity, one the usual unaveraged and the other obtained after averaging over the fibre cross-section, are considered. It is shown that the switching characteristics differ (for the same set of fibre parameters), qualitatively as well as quantitatively, for these models. The soliton switching characteristics in both the models are obtained, compared and discussed.