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arXiv:1612.06014 · Nanoscale

Bistable scattering in graphene-coated dielectric nanowires

Rujiang Li, Huaping Wang, Bin Zheng, Shahram Dehdashti, Er‐Ping Li, Hongsheng Chen

Published Jan 1, 2017• 20 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In nonlinear plasmonics, the switching threshold of optical bistability is limited by the weak nonlinear responses from the conventional Kerr dielectric media. Considering the giant nonlinear susceptibility of graphene, here we develop a nonlinear scattering model under the mean field approximation and study the bistable scattering in graphene-coated dielectric nanowires based on the semi-analytical solutions. We find that the switching intensities of bistable scattering can be smaller than 1 MW cm−2 at the working frequency. To further decrease the switching intensities, we show that the most important factor that restricts the bistable scattering is the relaxation time of graphene. Our work not only reveals some general characteristics of graphene-based bistable scattering, but also provides a guidance to further applications of optical bistability in the high speed all-optical signal processing.

DOI
10.1039/c7nr03056h

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In nonlinear plasmonics, the switching threshold of optical bistability is limited by the weak nonlinear responses from the conventional Kerr dielectric media. Considering the giant nonlinear susceptibility of graphene, here we develop a nonlinear scattering model under the mean field approximation and study the bistable scattering in graphene-coated dielectric nanowires based on the semi-analytical solutions. We find that the switching intensities of bistable scattering can be smaller than 1 MW cm−2 at the working frequency. To further decrease the switching intensities, we show that the most important factor that restricts the bistable scattering is the relaxation time of graphene. Our work not only reveals some general characteristics of graphene-based bistable scattering, but also provides a guidance to further applications of optical bistability in the high speed all-optical signal processing.
We study the nonlinear optical response of graphene in nanostructures. The spherical nanoparticle coated with a monolayer of graphene displays enhanced optical Kerr nonlinearity and, consequently, optical bistability and multistability in a broad range of incident optical intensity. This optical bistability significantly appertains on the geometry of the shell-coated nanoparticle, the fractional volume of the metallic core, as well as the core genre and Fermi energy of graphene. In particular, Fermi energy could also affect the optical bistability and induce switching from optical bistability to optical multistability. Due to the importance of core–shell nanoparticles, this model may find potential applications in optical bistable devices such as all-optical switches, optical transistors, and memories.
Based on full-wave scattering theory with self-consistent mean field approximation, we study the optical multi-stability of graphene-wrapped dielectric nanoparticles. We demonstrate that the optical bistability (OB) of the graphene-wrapped nanoparticle exist in both near-field and far-field spectra, and show the optical multi-stability arising from the contributions of higher-order terms of the incident external field. Moreover, both the optical stable region and the switching threshold values can be tuned by changing either the Fermi level or the size of the nanoparticle. Our results promise the graphene-wrapped dielectric nanoparticle a candidate of multi-state optical switching, optical memories and relevant optoelectronic devices.
Optical bistability at nanoscale is a promising way to realize optical switching, a key component of integrated nanophotonic devices. In this work we present an analytical model for optical bistability in a metal nano-antenna involving Kerr nonlinear medium based on detailed analysis of the correlation between the incident and extinction light intensity under surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The model allows one to construct a clear picture on how the threshold, contrast, and other characteristics of optical bistability are influenced by the nonlinear coefficient, incident light intensity, local field enhancement factor, SPR peak width, and other physical parameters of the nano-antenna. It shows that the key towards low threshold power and high contrast optical bistability in the nanosystem is to reduce the SPR peak width. This can be achieved by reducing the absorption of metal materials or introducing gain media into nanosystems.
A kind of graphene-based perfect absorber which can generate low-threshold and high-extinction-ratio optical bistability in the near-IR band is proposed and simulated with numerical methods. The interaction between input light and monolayer graphene in the absorber can be greatly enhanced due to the perfect absorption. The large nonlinear coefficient of graphene and the strong light-graphene interaction contribute to the nonlinear response of the structure, leading to relatively low switching thresholds of less than 2.5 MW/cm2 for an absorber with a Q factor lower than 1000. Meanwhile, the extinction ratio of bistable states in the absorber reaches an ultrahigh value of 47.3 dB at 1545.3 nm. Moreover, the influence of changing the structural parameters on the bistable behaviors is discussed in detail, showing that the structure can tolerate structural parametric deviation to some extent. The proposed bistable structure with ultra-compact size, low thresholds, high extinction ratio, and ultrafast response time could be of great applications for fabricating high-performance all-optical-communication devices.
A proposal on optical bistability at ultralow switching threshold and lower Fermi-level of graphene around 2 THz is implemented analytically through the proposed long-range surface plasmon resonance configuration by employing local field enhancement effects owing to the excitation of a graphene symmetric mode within graphene sheets. Reported threshold intensity for the optical bistability to date is 1.6 kW/cm2 within the terahertz region and 1.83 MW/cm2 at near-IR range. Whereas the proposed scheme explores the possibility of reducing this threshold down to 143.68 W/cm2, this technique proffers potential applications in nanoillumination, optical memory, and all-optical switching at an ultra-low threshold.
In this paper, we propose a modified Otto configuration to realize tunable and low-threshold optical bistability at terahertz frequencies by attaching multilayer graphene sheets to a nonlinear substrate interface. Our work demonstrates that the threshold of optical bistability can be markedly reduced (three orders of magnitude) by covering the nonlinear substrate with multilayer graphene sheets, due to strong local field enhancement with the excitation of surface plasmons. We present the influences of the Fermi energy of graphene, the incident angle, the thickness of air gap and the relaxation time of graphene on the hysteresis phenomenon and give a way to optimize the surface plasmon resonance, which will enable us to further lower the minimal power requirements for realizing optical bistability due to the strong interaction of light with graphene sheets. These results are promising for realization of terahertz optical switches, optical modulators and logical devices.