Casting dissipative compact states in coherent perfect absorbers

Abstract: Coherent perfect absorption (CPA), also known as time-reversed laser, is a wave phenomenon resulting from the reciprocity of destructive interference of transmitted and reflected waves. In this work we consider quasi one-dimensional lattice networks which posses at least one flat band, and show that CPA and lasing can be induced in both linear and nonlinear regimes of this lattice by fine-tuning non-Hermitian defects (dissipative terms localized within one unit-cell). We show that local dissipations that yield CPA simultaneously yield novel dissipative compact solutions of the lattice, whose growth or decay in time can be fine-tuned via the dissipation parameter. The scheme used to numerically visualize the theoretical findings offers a novel platform for the experimental implementation of these phenomena in optical devices.