Symmetric and asymmetric solitons in linearly coupled Bragg gratings

We demonstrate that a symmetric system of two linearly coupled waveguides, with Kerr nonlinearity and resonant grating in both of them, gives rise to a family of symmetric and antisymmetric solitons in an exact analytical form, a part of which exists outside of the bandgap in the system’s spectrum, i.e., they may be regarded as embedded solitons (ES’s, i.e., the ones partly overlapping with the continuous spectrum). Parameters of the family are the soliton’s amplitude and velocity. Asymmetric ES’s, unlike the regular (nonembedded) gap solitons (GS’s), do not exist in the system. Moreover, ES’s exist even in the case when the system’s spectrum contains no bandgap. The main issue is the stability of the solitons. We demonstrate that some symmetric ES’s are stable, while all the antisymmetric solitons are unstable; an explanation is given to the latter property, based on the consideration of the system’s Hamiltonian. We produce a full stability diagram, which comprises both embedded and regular solitons, quiescent and moving. A stability region for ES’s is found around the point where the constant of the linear coupling between the two cores is equal to the Bragg-reflectivity coefficient accounting for the linear conversion between the right- and left-traveling waves in each core, i.e., the ES’s are the “most endemic” solitary solitons in this system. The stability region quickly shrinks with the increase of the soliton’s velocity $c$, and completely disappears when $c$ exceeds half the maximum velocity. Collisions between stable moving solitons of various types are also considered, with a conclusion that the collisions are always quasielastic.