Reviving Modulational Instability with Third-Order Dispersion

Abstract

It is well-known that third-order dispersion (TOD) never allows the continuous wave of any nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS) type system to experience modulational instability (MI). Remarkably, we demonstrate a new kind of MI induced by TOD with spatial dispersion accounting for Wannier exciton mass in a ZnCdSe/ZnSe semiconductor superlattice. We also numerically predict the existence of novel Akhmediev breathers and Peregrine solitons due to the nonlinear development of MI with TOD.