Zero-ϕeff non-Bragg gap solitons in 1D Kerr polaritonic/metamaterial heterostructures

• Transmission properties of Kerr-metamaterial heterostructures are investigated.
• The transmission-switching phenomenon is observed at the edges of the non-Bragg zero-ϕeff gap.
• Transparency states are associated with localized gap solitons of various orders.
• Soliton solutions are shown to be robust with respect to absorption.

A theoretical study of one-dimensional heterostructures composed of alternate layers of a Kerr polaritonic material and a linear dispersive metamaterial is performed. For frequency values at the edges of the non-Bragg zero-ϕeff gap of the heterostructure in the linear regime, a switching from very low to high transmission states is obtained and localized gap solitons of various orders are found, depending on the particular value of the incident power. Soliton solutions are shown to be robust with respect to absorption effects and a study is presented for gap soliton phases at the top and bottom of the zero-ϕeff gap in the case of defocusing and focusing nonlinearities.