Abstract

The optical analog of an event horizon, in which an intense optical soliton propagating in a nonlinear waveguide prevents a weak probe wave travelling at a different velocity from passing through it, has recently attracted a lot of attention for theoretical similarities with general relativity as well as for potential applications [1,2]. Among others, it has been shown that the strong light-light interaction occurring at the optical event horizon can be exploited for high efficient frequency conversion [3] or for the realization of useful all-optical transistors [4]. Here we demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, the first optical analog of an event horizon in integrated photonic nonlinear structures, through the reflexion of a continuous wave (CW) on an intense pulse.

© 2015 IEEE