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NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N

Program to Development an Optical Transistor and Switch.

T. Henningsen, Max Garbuny, Richard H. Hopkins

Published Mar 15, 1985• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract : Previous work has proposed and analyzed the concept of two light beams interacting with a suitable medium to the effect that one beam turns the second beam on or off (an optical switch), or that the modulation in the first beam in amplified in the second (an optical transistor). Switching action was also demonstrated experimentally in uranyl for switching rates up to several kHz. In the present work, a more general survey and analysis was undertaken to identify classes and species of materials for which a particularly effective switching or transistor action can be predicted theoretically. As a class, dense materials, including liquid dyes, have broad absorption band spectra, resulting in low-performance capabilities such as a low transistor gain. In contrast, media in which atomic transitions are free, or shielded, from the fields of other atoms have, as switches and transistors, relatively high speeds of response and low demands on radiation power and mass of interacting materials. As special examples of this class, the performance characteristics of lithium and sodium wer calculated and the implications of the results discussed with respect to further action. Keywords include: Optical, Switch, Transistors, Absorption, Relaxation, Rate, Cross sections, Lithium, Sodium, Transition, Line and Bands.

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Reports on Progress in Physics•Aug 1, 1982•304 citations
Abstract : Previous work has proposed and analyzed the concept of two light beams interacting with a suitable medium to the effect that one beam turns the second beam on or off (an optical switch), or that the modulation in the first beam in amplified in the second (an optical transistor). Switching action was also demonstrated experimentally in uranyl for switching rates up to several kHz. In the present work, a more general survey and analysis was undertaken to identify classes and species of materials for which a particularly effective switching or transistor action can be predicted theoretically. As a class, dense materials, including liquid dyes, have broad absorption band spectra, resulting in low-performance capabilities such as a low transistor gain. In contrast, media in which atomic transitions are free, or shielded, from the fields of other atoms have, as switches and transistors, relatively high speeds of response and low demands on radiation power and mass of interacting materials. As special examples of this class, the performance characteristics of lithium and sodium wer calculated and the implications of the results discussed with respect to further action. Keywords include: Optical, Switch, Transistors, Absorption, Relaxation, Rate, Cross sections, Lithium, Sodium, Transition, Line and Bands.
We describe all-optical transistor action in photonic band gap materials doped with active atoms. In the presence of a photonic band gap (PBG) material, a coherent laser beam with the frequency slightly detuned from the resonant atomic transition frequency can drive a collection of two-level atoms to an almost totally inverted state, a phenomenon strictly forbidden in ordinary vacuum. By changing the laser field intensity in the neighborhood of a threshold value, it is possible to drive the atomic system through a transition from states in which the atoms populate preferentially the ground level to almost totally inverted states. In this process, the atomic system switches from a passive medium (highly absorptive) to a active medium (highly amplifying). The switching action in a PBG material is not associated with operating near a narrow cavity resonance with conventional trade-off between switching time and switching threshold intensity. Rather it is associated with an abrupt discontinuity in the engineered broad band electromagnetic density of states of the PBG material. We demonstrate all-optical transistor action in PBG materials by analyzing the absorption spectrum of a second probe laser beam and we show that the probe beam experience a substantial differential gain by slight intensity modulations in the control laser field.
We describe all-optical transistor action in photonic bandgap (PBG) materials doped with active atoms and analyse the advantages of this system over other all-optical transistor proposals. In the presence of a PBG material, a coherent laser beam with the frequency slightly detuned from the resonant atomic transition frequency can drive a collection of two-level atoms to an almost totally inverted state, a phenomenon strictly forbidden in ordinary vacuum. By varying the laser field intensity in the neighbourhood of a threshold value, it is possible to drive the atomic system through a transition from states in which the atoms populate preferentially the ground level to almost totally inverted states. In this process, the atomic system switches from a passive medium (highly absorptive) to a active medium (highly amplifying). The large differential gain exhibited by the atomic medium is very robust with respect to nonradiative relaxation and dephasing mechanisms. The switching action in a PBG material is not associated with operation near a narrow cavity resonance with conventional trade-off between switching time and switching threshold intensity. Rather it is associated with an abrupt discontinuity in the engineered broad-band electromagnetic density of states of the PBG material. We demonstrate all-optical transistor action in PBG materials by analysing the absorption spectrum of a second probe laser beam and we show that the probe beam experiences a substantial differential gain by slight intensity modulations in the control laser field. Under certain conditions, the fluctuations in the number of totally inverted atoms that contribute to the amplification process are strongly diminished (the statistics of the excited atoms becomes sub-Poissonian), which, in turn, determines a very low-noise regime of amplification.
Work during this period evaluated analytically the concept of multistage optical transistors based on two spectroscopically complementary materials. It is shown that very high total gains can be obtained with either of two alternatives, viz., (1) a chain of discrete complementary transistor units, or (2) a complementary transistor continuum (a concept which has no electronic analog). Whereas the total gain grows exponentially with the number of stages, the required constant photon fluxes grow only linearly with that number. High signal-to-noise ratios can be obtained without the need of cooling. However, the spectroscopic matching conditions of the two complementary materials are stringent. Under the guidance of the theoretical work, a search for suitably matching materials is now underway. (Author)
Quantum information processing systems and related technologies are likely to involve switching and amplification functions in ultrasmall objects such as nanotubes. In today's electronic devices the transistor performs these functions. A 'quantum age' equivalent of the conventional transistor would, ideally, use photons rather than electrons as information carriers because of their speed and robustness against decoherence. But robustness also stops them being easily controlled. Now a team from optETH and ETH in Zurich demonstrates the realization of a single-molecule optical transistor. In it, a single dye molecule coherently attenuates or amplifies a tightly focused laser beam, depending on the power of a second 'gating' beam. The transistor is the most fundamental building block in present-day technologies. For the purpose of quantum information processing schemes and for the development of a 'quantum computer', photons are attractive information carriers because of their speed and robustness against decoherence. However, their robustness also prevents them from being easily controlled; despite this, experiments now show the realization of a quantum optical transistor. The transistor is one of the most influential inventions of modern times and is ubiquitous in present-day technologies. In the continuing development of increasingly powerful computers as well as alternative technologies based on the prospects of quantum information processing, switching and amplification functionalities are being sought in ultrasmall objects, such as nanotubes, molecules or atoms1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Among the possible choices of signal carriers, photons are particularly attractive because of their robustness against decoherence, but their control at the nanometre scale poses a significant challenge as conventional nonlinear materials become ineffective. To remedy this shortcoming, resonances in optical emitters can be exploited, and atomic ensembles have been successfully used to mediate weak light beams7. However, single-emitter manipulation of photonic signals has remained elusive and has only been studied in high-finesse microcavities10,11,12,13 or waveguides8,14. Here we demonstrate that a single dye molecule can operate as an optical transistor and coherently attenuate or amplify a tightly focused laser beam, depending on the power of a second ‘gating’ beam that controls the degree of population inversion. Such a quantum optical transistor has also the potential for manipulating non-classical light fields down to the single-photon level. We discuss some of the hurdles along the road towards practical implementations, and their possible solutions.
Gives a broad description of optical bistability: from practical applications, as an optical transistor or optical memory element, to its phase transition interpretation. The theory is divided into three parts. The first is a simple discussion that covers most of the basic experimental effects and concepts of practical importance. The second part applies to atomic system where a semiclassical as well as a quantum-mechanical approach is possible. The third one discusses the mechanisms compatible with large nonlinearities observed in InSb and GaAs as semiconductors constitute the most promising materials for applications. Current experimental progress in all-optical and hybrid devices is also discussed and scaling example is presented to indicate the possibilities in high-speed all-optical signal processing.