Creating very slow optical gap solitons with a grating-assisted coupler

We show that optical gap solitons can be produced with velocities down to 4% of the group velocity of light using a grating-assisted coupler, i.e., a fiber Bragg grating that is linearly coupled to a non-Bragg fiber over a finite domain. Forward- and backward-moving light pulses in the non-Bragg fiber(s) that reach the coupling region simultaneously couple into the Bragg fiber and form a moving soliton, which then propagates beyond the coupling region. Two of these solitons can collide to create an even slower or stopped soliton. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America