Theory of Optical Bistability and Optical Memory

Yuchi Chen

Yanan Li, Yu-Yuan Chen, Ren-Gang Wan +1 more

R. Bonifacio, L. A. Lugiato

Hongli Chen, You‐Ming Zhang, Baile Zhang +1 more

We provide a self-consistent mean field approximation in the framework of Mie scattering theory to study the optical bistability of a metallic nanoparticle coated with a nonlinear shell. We demonstrate that the nanoparticle coated with a weakly nonlinear shell exhibits optical bistability in a broad range of incident optical intensity. This optical bistability critically relies on the geometry of the shell-coated nanoparticle, especially the fractional volume of the metallic core. The incident wavelength can also affect the optical bistability. Through an optimization-like process, we find a design with broader bistable region and lower threshold field by adjusting the size of the nonlinear shell, the fractional volume of the metallic core, and the incident wavelength. These results may find potential applications in optical bistable devices such as all-optical switches, optical transistors and optical memories.

R. Bonifacio, L. A. Lugiato, M. Gronchi

Odysseas Tsilipakos, Emmanouil E. Kriezis

Optical bistability with a hybrid silicon-plasmonic configuration consisting of a nonlinear traveling-wave (disk) resonator side-coupled with a bus waveguide is theoretically investigated. The nonlinear response is studied with a theoretical framework combining perturbation theory and temporal coupled-mode theory. For the CW case, a general closed-form expression is derived. The effect of the parameters entering in the expression on the bistability curve is thoroughly investigated, and the physical system is accordingly designed so as to exhibit minimum power threshold for bistability and maximum extinction ratio between bistable states. Finally, the temporal dynamics are assessed. The system can toggle between bistable states in approximately 5 ps and is thus suitable for ultrafast memory and switching applications.