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Optica Acta International Journal of Optics

Thermally Induced Optical Bistability at Room Temperature in GaAs/AlGaAs Multiple Quantum Wells

Alan Miller, G. Steward, Peter Blood, K. Woodbridge

Published Apr 1, 1986• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Results on both dispersive optical bistability and bistability by increasing absorption are presented for multiple quantum wells consisting of 120 wells of 63 + thickness GaAs separated by 218 + thick barriers of Al0·4 Ga0·6As. Optical bistability is observed in the wavelength range 845–870nm for incident powers below 10mW. A second absorptive switching feature unique to quantum wells is observed at the n=2 transition. Wavelength bistability is also reported for the first time.

DOI
10.1080/713821951

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Results on both dispersive optical bistability and bistability by increasing absorption are presented for multiple quantum wells consisting of 120 wells of 63 + thickness GaAs separated by 218 + thick barriers of Al0·4 Ga0·6As. Optical bistability is observed in the wavelength range 845–870nm for incident powers below 10mW. A second absorptive switching feature unique to quantum wells is observed at the n=2 transition. Wavelength bistability is also reported for the first time.
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.
Abstract This paper briefly reviews the nonlinear optical and electro-optical properties and applications of GaAs—AlGaAs multiple quantum wells, all of which are compatible with laser diodes or semiconductor electronics or both. They show large nonlinear absorption and refraction (associated with their strong room-temperature exciton resonances) applicable to all-optical devices. They also show large electroabsorptive effects, some of which are unique to the quantum wells at any temperature, which are so strong that optical modulators can be made with micrometre dimensions. A new class of optical bistability (due to increasing absorption) is also reviewed; combination of this with the electroabsorptive effects enables a new mirrorless optical switch called a Self Electro-optic Effect Device (SEED), which sets a new standard for optical switching energies, with energy densities reduced by a factor of six by comparison to even the best resonant cavity devices.
The temperature distribution in a GaAs/(Al,Ga)As multiple quantum well structure was measured with high lateral and temporal resolution while passing through the characteristic hysteresis loop of a thermally induced absorptive optical bistability. In a pump and probe beam experiment, the local transmission spectra of the quantum well structure were recorded and the temperature distribution in the sample was deduced from the spectral positions of characteristic exciton resonances. These resonances remain sufficiently sharp even far above room temperature to guarantee an accuracy of better than 3 K The experiment was conducted under both steady-state and dynamical conditions. The steady-state results were compared with numerical calculations, showing good agreement. The dependence of the relative width of the characteristic hysteresis on the environmental temperature of the bistable sample was investigated. A simple relaxation-time model of the bistability was shown to describe nicely the observed behaviour if the bleaching of the lowest exciton resonance due to high laser intensities is considered. Based on this dependence, a miniature temperature-sensing device using an optical fibre to guide the laser beam is presented.
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.
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.