Unidirectional Nonlinear PT-symmetric Optical Structures

We show that non-linear optical structures involving a balanced gain-loss profile, can act as unidirectional optical valves. This is made possible by exploiting the interplay between the fundamental symmetries of parity (P) and time (T), with optical nonlinear effects. This novel unidirectional dynamics is specifically demonstrated for the case of an integrable PT-symmetric nonlinear system.