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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Optical bistable switching with Kerr nonlinear materials exhibiting a finite response time in two-dimensional photonic crystals

Ali Naqavi, Zahra MonemHaghdoost, Hooman Abediasl, Sina Ataollah Khorasani, Khashayar Mehrany

Published Apr 30, 2010• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Effect of relaxation time on the performance of photonic crystal optical bistable switches based on Kerr nolinearity is discussed. This paper deals with optical pulses with the duration of about 50 ps. In such cases the steady state response of the optical device can be used to approximate the pulse evolution if the nonlinearity is assumed instantaneous, hence analytical solutions such as the coupled mode theory can be used to obtain the time evolution of the electromagnetic fields. However if the relaxation time of the material nonlinear response is also considered, changes in the power levels and in the shape of the hystersis loop is observed. In this case, we use the nonlinear finite difference time domain method (NL-FDTD) to follow the system dynamics and get the bistability hystersis loop. Codes are developed to analyze the instantaneous Kerr materials and the Kerr materials with finite response times. Depending on the material, the relaxation times of the order of 1-10fs should be considered in studying bistability to obtain the right shape of the output pulses. It is observed that the relaxation leads to larger input power and threshold and hence degrades the performance of the switch in pulse shaping.

DOI
10.1117/12.854620

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Effect of relaxation time on the performance of photonic crystal optical bistable switches based on Kerr nolinearity is discussed. This paper deals with optical pulses with the duration of about 50 ps. In such cases the steady state response of the optical device can be used to approximate the pulse evolution if the nonlinearity is assumed instantaneous, hence analytical solutions such as the coupled mode theory can be used to obtain the time evolution of the electromagnetic fields. However if the relaxation time of the material nonlinear response is also considered, changes in the power levels and in the shape of the hystersis loop is observed. In this case, we use the nonlinear finite difference time domain method (NL-FDTD) to follow the system dynamics and get the bistability hystersis loop. Codes are developed to analyze the instantaneous Kerr materials and the Kerr materials with finite response times. Depending on the material, the relaxation times of the order of 1-10fs should be considered in studying bistability to obtain the right shape of the output pulses. It is observed that the relaxation leads to larger input power and threshold and hence degrades the performance of the switch in pulse shaping.
We designed and manufactured an optical bistability waveguide device based on nonlinear one-dimensional photonic crystal used CdS_xSe_(1-x) doped glass. This kind of semiconductor doped glass has large nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear fast response time. The distribution of refractive index of the nonlinear one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide satisfies sine function. We obtained the nonlinear photonic crystal waveguide by exposure holography and etching techniques. Length of the photonic crystal waveguide is about 3 mm. The height of the peak-groove of the waveguide is 0.1 μm. According to our design, the center of bandgap of the one-dimensional photonic crystal lies at 514.5 nm while the power density of the incident light, the incident light was reflected by the photonic crystal. When the power density of the incident light increasing, the bandgap is shifting to the direc-tion of short wavelength due to the decreasing of the refractive index with the increasing of the incident power density, so more incident light is transmitted. In experiment, we used an active mode-locking pulse of Ar ion laser as the light source which wavelength is 514.5 nm, repeating frequency is 82 MHz and pulse width is 200 ps. The light beam was coupled into the device by prism with a laser average power of 1.28 W (in the case of nonlinear saturation operation, optimum coupling efficiency is about 6%). Pulse wave forms of incident light and transmitted from sample were recorded in turn by 7 904 oscilloscope. The optical bistability curve of input power density and output one is fitted by computer. We obtained the threshold power density of bistable switch to be 1.60×10~5 W/cm~2 (it is equivalent to average power of 77 mW) and both the rise and fall time are 63 ps. We used the Finite Difference Time Domain Method to obtain the characteristics of the bandgap shift with the incident power density increasing of the nonlinear photonic crystal and calculate the optical bistability curve of this device. In theory, the threshold power density of bistable switch is about 1.40×10~5 W/cm~2 and the switch time is about 50 ps. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental ones. This device is a new and feasible one for optical information process and optical computing in the future.
Bistability due to the nonlinearity of an optical material has been studied recently and investigated for its potential high-speed all-optical signal-processing applications. As a result, accurate modeling techniques are required for design purposes. In this paper, the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is applied to the modeling of optical bistability caused by the saturable Kerr effect of a GaAs–GaAlAs MQW-like material. A recursive finite-difference formulation for the saturable Kerr properties of the material is derived, and a physically realizable Fabry–Perot etalon is simulated. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the FDTD method for bistability modeling, and thus provide the foundations for further work and simulation of more complicated and realistic bistable structures. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 21: 165–168, 1999.
We present a bistable photonic crystal configuration consisting of a waveguide directly coupled to three microcavities with instantaneous Kerr nonlinearity. Coupled mode theory combined with a numerical simulation based on the finite-difference time-domain technique is employed to design and evaluate the optical configuration. We demonstrate that with the proper choice of resonant frequencies of the constitutional photonic crystal microcavities, such a configuration can function as a high contrast switch, and the contrast between the bistable states in its transmission can be as high as 300. We expect this device to be useful in the practical application of all-optical switches.
We present an analytical model and numerical experiments to describe optimal bistable switching involving photonic crystals nonlinear cavity. The involving photonic crystals nonlinear cavity is particularly suitable for large-scale all-optical integration. It is interesting to show that the refractive index of the system can be altered by the incident intensity when the incident frequency is tuned to the evanescent mode and the cavity contains a nonlinear Kerr medium. The response of this system to high-intensity incident waves is studied in detail. A cavity host a localized mode at 1.55 um with a Q of 4000 and a mode volume of 0.055 um3, we predict the onset of bistable reflection at incident powers of ~40 mW. The downstream reflections lead to hysteresis loops in the reflectivity that are topologically distinct from conventional Lorentzian-derived loops characteristic of isolated Fabry-Perot cavities. We provide a stability argument that reveals the unstable branches of these unique hysteresis loops, and we illustrate some of the rich bistable behaviors that can be engineered with such downstream sources, this fact may be used to obtain more flexibility in designing nonlinear devices.