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Journal of Modern Optics

A Model for the Optical Transistor and Optical Switching

J. M. Vigoureux, F. Raba

Published Dec 1, 1991• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a model for the optical transistor which can also be used for optical switching. We consider the ‘resonant optical tunnel effect’ and we show that the amplification of a modulation may be obtained by acting on the index of refraction of the intermediate nonlinear layer of a multilayer optical film. Parameters can be chosen in a technically possible range and we give a numerical estimation of these parameters when using CdS as amplifier. These results are compared with those which could be expected with a nonlinear Fabry-Perot.

DOI
10.1080/09500349114552641

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We propose a model for the optical transistor which can also be used for optical switching. We consider the ‘resonant optical tunnel effect’ and we show that the amplification of a modulation may be obtained by acting on the index of refraction of the intermediate nonlinear layer of a multilayer optical film. Parameters can be chosen in a technically possible range and we give a numerical estimation of these parameters when using CdS as amplifier. These results are compared with those which could be expected with a nonlinear Fabry-Perot.
We report the realisation of optically bistable switching and memory elements, and the transphasor Can all-optical transistor) in simple one element nonlinear Fabry-Perot interferometers made from the semiconductor InSb. These devices, which operate at 5 K and 77 K with mW powers from a cw CO laser between 5 and 6 μm rely on a strongly intensity-dependent refractive index discovered near the bandgap region of InSb and explained by bandgap resonant saturation. Switching speeds are shown to be < 500 ns in these first devices and operation to much shorter timescales is predicted. Operation at room temperature and in other semiconductors at other wavelengths remains a possibility and such devices offer considerable potential for all-optical switching in integrated optics and laser pulse control.
A possible device concept for photonic switching is the crossed resonator in which two Fabry-Perot resonators with perpendicular cavity axes enclose a nonlinear medium. Light entering one of the cavities can modify the light exiting the other cavity by altering the refractive index of the medium. This configuration has been proposed for use as an optical logic gate.1 In this work we also demonstrate its potential as an optical switch and transistor. We model the device following the single Fabry-Perot cavity work for steady-state fields of Miller2 and for pulsed inputs following Bischofberger and Shen.3 We assume the medium has a Kerr nonlinearity with an intensity-independent background absorption. Using parameters for the organic polymer polydiacetylene (PTS) etched into an optical waveguide, we find differential gains of greater than three for steady-state input fields of reasonable powers and that this device in certain regimes behaves like an optical transistor. For the time-dependent case, we model the medium temporal response by the Debye equation using the medium response time for PTS. We present results for input pulses of varying intensity and duration.
A theoretical demonstration of optical bistability in periodic layered media, particularly in long-period GaAs/AlAs superlattices is presented. The proposed structure consists of a periodic multilayer system, as opposed to previously demonstrated nonlinear bistable devices which employed Fabry-Perot etalons. The optical resonance effect which is essential for bistable devices is, in this case, induced by a refractive index modulation. The nonlinear active medium is distributed in the whole structure rather than placed between the two mirrors of a Fabry-Perot cavity. It is shown by a complete calculation of wave propagation in the periodic nonlinear medium that a multiple valued feature appears in the structure's nonlinear reflectivity spectrum. The input/output characteristics of the structure exhibit bistable hysteresis similar to that of a nonlinear Fabry-Perot etalon.>
An optical transistor capable of simultaneous amplification and switching is theoretically proposed via cascaded second-order nonlinear interactions in a resonant structure. Two distinct operational schemes are analyzed. A single-frequency scheme employs cascaded second harmonic generation and inverse second harmonic generation (SHG/iSHG) using two Type-I SHG interactions, whereas a dual-frequency scheme employs cascaded SHG and optical parametric amplification (SHG/OPA). Exact theoretical solutions and numerical calculations show cascadable amplification and digital on/off switching. A new, to our knowledge, optical phenomenon of nonlinear transparency is predicted by the theoretical solutions and confirmed by the numerical solutions in each scheme of the cascaded SHG/iSHG and SHG/OPA. The single- and dual-frequency configurations satisfy the cascadability and fan-out criteria with power transfer ratios of α TR =4.838 and 52.26 and power amplification factors of β AF =48.38 and 522.6, respectively. These results indicate transistor-like performance at input powers in the milliwatt range, which are readily supplied by laser diodes. The proposed structure provides a proof-of-principle theoretical route to optical transistors, which may serve as a basis for future all-optical communication and computing.
The authors study analytically and numerically the effect of a periodic perturbation in the index of refraction of a nonlinear optical medium. Using a one-dimensional model for monochromatic waves incident on the medium, they find that near resonance between the perturbation and the modulation of the electric field there can be a significant enhancement of optical bistability in the low intensity regime. In particular, they discuss in detail the case of the primary resonance, which is responsible for the most significant effects, and show how one can optimize the bistability curve for the implementation of an optical switch, based on the information provided by the resonance structure.
We report the observation of optical stability for a plane parallel semiconductor crystal which forms a Fabry-Perot interferometer using only the natural reflectivity of its surfaces. Nonlinear transmission is observed for cw laser intensities above ∼ 100 W/cm2 for radiation at 1895 cm−1 near the energy gap of InSb at 5 K. The effect is interpreted in terms of a very large intensity-dependent refractive index giving a 5λ/2 optical thickness change for an intensity of ∼2 kW/cm2. Clear bistability is seen in fifth-order interference, the first such observation above first order in an intrinsic, one-element system, in addition to regions exhibiting signal amplification. The same crystal also shows strong modulation of the transmission of one laser beam induced by a second, with real signal gain, thus demonstrating an ’’optical transistor.’’