Nonlinear light propagation in the defect band of one-dimensional defective structures

In this paper we numerically investigate the nonlinear propagation of defect state in one-dimensional structures with defects. We investigate the nonlinear transmission spectra and the bistable response for defective structures with different index gradients. The results show that positive Kerr nonlinearity can suppress the Wannier-Stark localization. And the nonlinear response of defect states band exhibits an optical switch behavior, which may be applied to all-optical devices. And the gap solitons from these defect states are presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.