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Journal of Microscopy

Numerical studies of optical switching and optical bistability phenomena of nano‐ or meso‐size spheres

T. Okamoto, Masanobu Haraguchi, M. Fukui

Published Jun 1, 2003• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose the use of numerical calculations of the optical response of nonlinear Kerr-spheres, modifying the Mie theory. As a numerical example, we use a CuCl sphere coated with a Kerr-nonlinear sphere, taking into account the excitation of the Z3-exciton. The results clearly show that optical bistable and/or optical switching devices can be realized on a nano- and meso-size scale when the real part of the dielectric constant of CuCl is negative.

DOI
10.1046/j.1365-2818.2003.01087.x

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We propose the use of numerical calculations of the optical response of nonlinear Kerr-spheres, modifying the Mie theory. As a numerical example, we use a CuCl sphere coated with a Kerr-nonlinear sphere, taking into account the excitation of the Z3-exciton. The results clearly show that optical bistable and/or optical switching devices can be realized on a nano- and meso-size scale when the real part of the dielectric constant of CuCl is negative.
We provide a self-consistent mean field approximation in the framework of Mie scattering theory to study the optical bistability of a metallic nanoparticle coated with a nonlinear shell. We demonstrate that the nanoparticle coated with a weakly nonlinear shell exhibits optical bistability in a broad range of incident optical intensity. This optical bistability critically relies on the geometry of the shell-coated nanoparticle, especially the fractional volume of the metallic core. The incident wavelength can also affect the optical bistability. Through an optimization-like process, we find a design with broader bistable region and lower threshold field by adjusting the size of the nonlinear shell, the fractional volume of the metallic core, and the incident wavelength. These results may find potential applications in optical bistable devices such as all-optical switches, optical transistors and optical memories.
The theoretical study of the nonlinear dielectric function of three-level systems has shown a memory effect which depends on the inversion of the exciton and biexciton populations created during the excitation and on the relaxation times of these quasiparticles. This effect is studied at low temperatures (2 K) by measuring the time evolution of the transmission of a beam through a CuCl sample. In addition, it has important consequences on the switching properties of bistable devices using CuCl as the active medium.
Abstract Optically bistable behaviour is demonstrated for systems consisting of optically nonlinear microcrystallites embedded in an optically linear metal or dielectric. The most simple version of the local‐field correction serves as feedback mechanism thus avoiding external mirrors. The dielectric function for macroscopic samples is calculated with Garnett's effective medium theory. Numerical examples for the reflectivity and the transmissivity are given for an embedded dielectric with exciton‐like nonlinearity.
Optical bistability at nanoscale is a promising way to realize optical switching, a key component of integrated nanophotonic devices. In this work we present an analytical model for optical bistability in a metal nano-antenna involving Kerr nonlinear medium based on detailed analysis of the correlation between the incident and extinction light intensity under surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The model allows one to construct a clear picture on how the threshold, contrast, and other characteristics of optical bistability are influenced by the nonlinear coefficient, incident light intensity, local field enhancement factor, SPR peak width, and other physical parameters of the nano-antenna. It shows that the key towards low threshold power and high contrast optical bistability in the nanosystem is to reduce the SPR peak width. This can be achieved by reducing the absorption of metal materials or introducing gain media into nanosystems.