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physica status solidi (b)

Optical Nonlinearities of GaAs‐Based Epitaxial Structures for All‐Optical Switching

J. L. Oudar, Bruno G. Sfez, Robert Kuszelewicz, J. C. Michel, Rozette Azoulay

Published May 1, 1990• 24 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract An experimental study is made of GaAs/AlGaAs monolithic bistable etalons fabricated by metalorganic vapor‐phase epitaxy. Optical bistability is observed in the reflective mode, with a minimum threshold power of less than 3 mW and a switching contrast as high as 30: 1, with a cavity resonator designed to achieve simultaneously a high finesse and a high reflectivity contrast. The dispersive optical nonlinearity of the multiple quantum well active medium is measured as a function of the intracavity intensity, and a strong saturation behavior is observed. The origin of this saturation and its implication on the design of future devices is discussed briefly.

DOI
10.1002/pssb.2221590120

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Abstract An experimental study is made of GaAs/AlGaAs monolithic bistable etalons fabricated by metalorganic vapor‐phase epitaxy. Optical bistability is observed in the reflective mode, with a minimum threshold power of less than 3 mW and a switching contrast as high as 30: 1, with a cavity resonator designed to achieve simultaneously a high finesse and a high reflectivity contrast. The dispersive optical nonlinearity of the multiple quantum well active medium is measured as a function of the intracavity intensity, and a strong saturation behavior is observed. The origin of this saturation and its implication on the design of future devices is discussed briefly.
Epitaxial methods allow the fabrication of nonlinear interferomethc structures which include the mirrors and the GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells (MQW) nonlinear medium in a single crystal. This results in very compact nonlinear microcavities with typically 5im overall thickness. Optical bistability is observed in these structures at mW optical power. We review our latest experimental results on these structures including the observation of high contrast switching in the reflection mode the direct measurement of dispersive optical nonlinearities in MQWs evidencing their saturation behavior at high intensities. Finally we report external-beam switching experiments which allow to assess the potential of these structures as all-optical gates.
Monolithic bistable microcavities with a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As multiple quantum well active layer and AlAs/Al0.1Ga0.9As Bragg reflectors have been fabricated by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The design of the whole structure is such that a good cavity finesse and a high contrast in the reflective mode are simultaneously obtained. This results in a bistability power threshold of less than 3 mW at 838 nm and a contrast ratio as high as 30:1. A new method is proposed, which allows to measure the nonlinear refractive index in a quasi-continuous regime, and in the operating conditions for bistability. The nonlinear index is shown to saturate at higher power, which evidences the need of a good cavity finesse for such bistable devices. Memory effect is then demonstrated: the sample can stay in either of its two stable states for more than 1 ms without spontaneously switching, and for input pulses as short as 60 ns. Finally we describe two-beam experiments with a new experimental configuration, also in reflection, which allows to mix the two input beams and extract the output beam with an ideal 100% efficiency.
Epitaxial methods allow the fabrication of nonlinear interferometric structures which include the mirrors and the nonlinear medium in a single crystal. Optical bistability is observed in these structures at mW optical power. The large excitonic and band-gap resonant nonlinearities of direct-gap semiconductors, such as bulk GaAs or Multiple Quantum Wells (MQW), allow to reach a substantial phase-shift (0.2-0.3 radian) over interaction lengths as small as a few wavelengths. This results in very compact nonlinear microcavities, with typically 5μm overall thickness.
Compact bistable GaAs étalons with epitaxial GaAs/AlAs Bragg reflectors have been fabricated by metallorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Their monolithic structure is convenient for further technological steps. It has been found that the good thermal conductivity of the mirror layers allows more efficient heat sinking and leads to improved switching characteristics. A 2:1 contrast ratio and a 20 ns switching time have been obtained in the reflective mode, with a 4 mW threshold power and a strongly reduced dependence of the switch-off threshold upon incident pulse duration.