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Optics Letters

Transistor action through nonlinear cascading in Type II interactions

Gaetano Assanto

Published Aug 1, 1995• 36 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Based on cascading through Type II second-harmonic generation, I show how all-optical amplitude modulation and switching can be obtained by utilizing an input wave at the fundamental frequency with unequal orthogonal spatial components. The proposed all-optical transistor/switch is insensitive to the inputs' relative phase, representing a step forward with respect to previously suggested configurations for transparent photonic networks.

DOI
10.1364/ol.20.001595

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Based on cascading through Type II second-harmonic generation, I show how all-optical amplitude modulation and switching can be obtained by utilizing an input wave at the fundamental frequency with unequal orthogonal spatial components. The proposed all-optical transistor/switch is insensitive to the inputs' relative phase, representing a step forward with respect to previously suggested configurations for transparent photonic networks.
The resurgence of interest in cascaded second order nonlinearities[1,2] has resulted in several schemes for applying cascading in second-harmonic generating (SHG) crystals to optical transistor-like devices [3-7], Such devices allow a weak signal beam to impose a large amplitude modulation on a strong “pump” beam, through mixing in a χ(2) crystal. However, all of the devices reported to date require the pump and signal beams to be temporally coherent, as the process is strongly dependent on the phase between these two beams. There have been some suggestions[6,7] that type II phasematched SHG may remove phase sensitivity, but the devices proposed still require that the signal must be in phase with approximately half of the pump intensity. In this letter, we describe how one may properly exploit type II phase matching to produce a truly phase-insensitive all-optical transistor (AOT) based on second order nonlinearities.
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 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 4.838 and 52.26 and power amplification factors of 48.38 and 522.6, respectively. These results indicate transistor-like performance at input powers in the milliwatt range, readily supplied by laser diodes. The proposed structure establishes a physically feasible and practically scalable route to optical transistors operating at high speed and low power for integrated photonic circuits, with broad applications in all optical communication and computing.
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.