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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Continuous-wave laser-pumped optical bistability in thermally deposited and molecular-beam-grown ZnSe interference filters

Yuk Tak Chow, Brian S. Wherrett, Eric Van Stryland, Brendan T. McGuckin, David C. Hutchings, Jinesh Mathew, Alan Miller, Keith L. Lewis

Published Nov 1, 1986• 34 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We observe and compare conditions for cw optical bistability in both thermal-vacuum-deposited and molecular beam grown ZnSe-based interference filters, at He–Ne-laser (633-nm), Kr (647-nm), and Ar-ion (514-nm) wave-lengths. Bistability is observed at 514 and 647 nm and, by inference, should be observable at a number of intervening wavelengths for a single molecular-beam-grown sample. From our theoretical analysis we also demonstrate that observed drift instabilities in filter nonlinear responses correlate with the highest internal irradiance levels.

DOI
10.1364/josab.3.001535

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We observe and compare conditions for cw optical bistability in both thermal-vacuum-deposited and molecular beam grown ZnSe-based interference filters, at He–Ne-laser (633-nm), Kr (647-nm), and Ar-ion (514-nm) wave-lengths. Bistability is observed at 514 and 647 nm and, by inference, should be observable at a number of intervening wavelengths for a single molecular-beam-grown sample. From our theoretical analysis we also demonstrate that observed drift instabilities in filter nonlinear responses correlate with the highest internal irradiance levels.
The switching dynamics of thermally induced optical bistability in ZnSe nonlinear interference filters is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The device, maintained on its low transmission level by a cw argon laser beam, is switched on its high transmission level by an external light pulse. Either a very fast switching or an important slowing down are obtained when the holding cw intensity or the switching pulse energy are well chosen. This variation of the switching times is analyzed theoretically and observed experimentally.
For the first time, ZnSe epitaxial layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy are shown to exhibit large contrast, low power, and extremely long-term stable thermally induced absorptive optical bistability. It is observed over a wide temperature range between 169 K and RT, with a strongly variable loop width and a switch-back adjustable to be less than 50% of the respective switch-down value. Critical slowing down as well as switch-down times are studied in dependence of the excess over the switch-down intensity values.