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

Optical bistability in a ZnTe/CdZnTe multiple quantum well optical bistable device at room temperature

Hongyu Li, De Z. Shen, Zhuhong Zheng, Jiulin Lin, Jiying Zhang

Published Feb 20, 1998• 0 citations

Abstract

The band edge nonlinear absorption in ZnTe/CdZnTe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) is studied at room temperature. It is found that the exciton absorption peak tends to saturate, broaden and the absorption edge shift to lower energy side with increasing of pump intensities. The optical bistability in ZnTe/CdZnTe MQWs optical bistable device is investigated on transmission at room temperature. The research result indicates that the threshold and contrast ratio for the optical bistability in ZnTe/CdZnTe MQWs optical bistable device are about 292.5 kW/cm2 and 3:1, respectively.

DOI: 10.1117/12.300719

Related papers

ZnTe/CdZnTe MQWs optical bistable device on transmission at room temperature

Hongyu Li, De Z. Shen, Jiying Zhang +4 more

ZnTe/CdZnTe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) optical bistable device has been fabricated, and optical bistability in ZnTe/CdZnTe MQWs optical bistable device is investigated on transmission at room temperature. The research result indicates that the threshold and contrast ratio for the optical bistability in Zn-Te/CdZnTe MQWs optical bistable device are about 363 kW/cm2 and 4:1, respectively. On the basis of the excitonic nonlinear theories, excitonic absorption spectrum in the ZnTe/CdZnTe MQWs obtained here, we attribute the major nonlinear mechanism for the optical bistability to the saturating effect of excitonic absorption.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIESep 30, 19960 citations

Saturating refractive nonlinearities and optical bistability in ZnSe/CdZnSe MQWs at room temperature

Hongyu Li, De Z. Shen, Jiying Zhang +3 more

The excitonic nonlinear refractive index was calculated by using Kramers-Kronig relation and the saturating absorption of ZnSe/CdZnSe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) was studied under different pump intensities. The maximum nonlinear refractive index change is about -6.19 X 10-3. Excitonic optical bistability in ZnSe/CdZnSe MQWs is investigated at room temperature. The result indicates that the threshold and contrast ratio for the optical bistability in ZnSe/CdZnSe MQWs are about 210Kw/cm2 and 2:1, respectively. On the basis of the excitonic nonlinear theories and excitonic absorption spectra in the ZnSe/CdZnSe MQWs, we attribute the major nonlinear mechanism of the optical bistability in the ZnSe/CdZnSe MQWs to the phase space filling of excitonic states and excitonic band broadening due to exciton-exciton interactions.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEAug 17, 19980 citations

Picosecond Optical Bistability of ZnS-ZnTe/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells on Reflection at Room Temperature

Dezhen Shen, Xiwu Fan, Baojun Yang Baojun Yang

The optical bistability with picosecond switching time in ZnS-ZnTe/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on reflection at room temperature has been studied for the first time. The research results indicate that the switching threshold from high to low state and contrast ratio for the optical bistability are about 1.2 MW/cm2 and 3:1, respectively. The major nonlinear mechanism for the optical bistability is due to the change of refractive index caused by the band filling effect.

Japanese Journal of Applied PhysicsFeb 1, 19950 citations

Room-temperature excitonic optical properties in ZnSe-ZnS/GaAs multiple quantum wells

De Z. Shen, Hongyu Li, Jiying Zhang +1 more

Excitonic optical bistability with nanosecond switching time in ZnSe-ZnS multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with a Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity is investigated at room temperature. The research result indicates that the threshold and contrast ratio for the optical bistability in ZnSe-ZnS MQWs with a FP cavity are about 0.2 MW/cm2 and 6:1, respectively. On the basis of the room temperature excitonic absorption spectra obtained here, we attribute the major nonlinear mechanism for the optical bistability to the excitonic saturating absorption due to phase space filling of excitonic states and excitonic band broadening.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEFeb 20, 19980 citations

Room-temperature excitonic optical bistability in bulk GaAs

Jack L. Jewell, Seth Ovadia, Nasser N. Peyghambarian +4 more

Optical bistable devices containing GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) structures have shown great potential for performing fast low-power optical switching at room temperature.1 The presence of a much stronger exciton absorption feature in the MQW structures compared to bulk GaAs suggests far superior performance in the former. We report the observation of room-temperature bistability in bulk GaAs with input power <10 mW and intensities of a few kW/cm2. The intensities are consistent with the data of Miller et al.2 which show a saturation intensity of nearly 4 kW/cm2 in a MQW sample with a detuning of less than a halfwidth from the peak of the exciton resonance. Our detunings are always several halfwidths.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-OpticsJan 1, 19841 citation

Picosecond optical bistability in ZnCdSe/ZnSe multiple quantum wells at room temperature

Lian C. Chen, Xiwu Fan, Youming Lu +5 more

The picosecond optical bistability of Zn1-xCdxSe/ZnSe (x equals 0.23) multiple quantum well (MQW) has been observed by a Streak Camera at room temperature for the first time. In the absorption spectra of ZnCdSe/ZnSe MQW, there are two peaks at 515 nm and 530 nm. We discussed the origin of the two peaks and physical mechanism of the bistability.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEAug 5, 19940 citations