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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Ultrafast excitonic nonlinearities in ion-implanted InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells

E. Lugagne-Delpon, J. L. Oudar, N. Bouch, Rama K. Raj

Published Jan 1, 1998• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Summary form only given. We have realized an ultrafast saturable absorber by implantation of energetic ions in an InGaAs-InAlAs multiple quantum well structure. This constitutes an efficient way for introducing a controllable concentration of efficient traps, in order to control the carrier lifetime while preserving the excitonic properties of the quantum wells. A further advantage of this approach is that the ion implantation can be realized as one of the very last steps in the fabrication process. The integration of this tailored nonlinear material in guided-wave or optical microcavity devices should result in high-speed, compact, all optical switches, with low switching energies. Modeling of such devices based on the present experimental results will be discussed.

DOI
10.1109/cleo.1998.676598

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Summary form only given. We have realized an ultrafast saturable absorber by implantation of energetic ions in an InGaAs-InAlAs multiple quantum well structure. This constitutes an efficient way for introducing a controllable concentration of efficient traps, in order to control the carrier lifetime while preserving the excitonic properties of the quantum wells. A further advantage of this approach is that the ion implantation can be realized as one of the very last steps in the fabrication process. The integration of this tailored nonlinear material in guided-wave or optical microcavity devices should result in high-speed, compact, all optical switches, with low switching energies. Modeling of such devices based on the present experimental results will be discussed.
Ultrafast optical switches are one of the crucial components in next generation all-optical communication networks. One promising candidate is the optical switch based on saturable intersubband (ISB) absorption in doped InGaAs/AlAs/AlAsSb coupled double quantum wells (CDQW). We employ the density matrix theory and modified optical Bloch equations with the relaxation-time approximation to simulate the time evolution of optical nonlinearities in quantum well (QW) structures. The absorption saturation characteristics are derived afterwards. The theoretical estimates are used to interpret the corresponding experimental results. Furthermore, several impact factors related to dynamic and saturation characteristics of the materials are discussed theoretically. The studies provide useful clues to optimize the QW material and device design.
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.
Electron-spin relaxation has been investigated in a variety of quantum confined structures including GaAs-based quantum wells and quantum wires as well as InP-based quantum wells, and it has been shown to exhibit ultrafast relaxation in the picosecond, and even in the femtosecond, range. This ultrafast relaxation has been used together with the exciton absorption nonlinearity as an novel principle of all-optical switching device which can avoid the speed limit due to the slow carrier lifetime in conventional switching devices. Experiments on GaAs-based quantum-well spin switches have shown 4-ps gate switch operation. Also, experimental analyses have shown the feasibility of these devices at a high contrast ratio (13 dB) and high repetition rate (40 GHz). The application of this device to a demultiplexer has been proposed.
In this paper, we propose and theoretically investigate an ultrafast, compact, and energy efficient all-optical switch (AOS) design based on a saturable absorbing cavity. The conceptual basis of the switch design is the material absorption saturation phenomenon. The optical cavity is used to enhance the light-matter interaction locally. As a result, the device dimension is substantially reduced. Numerical studies were carried out analytically using the temporal-coupled mode theory. Cavity structural parameters and material properties related to the switch design are discussed. The figure of merit of the switch performance in terms of the insertion loss, extinction ratio, and operating energy consumption are analyzed. Finally, as a specific practical application of the developed AOS, ultrahigh-speed optical time division multiplexing operations are demonstrated.
This report describes progress in measuring and modeling the nonlinear optical properties of and picosecond carrier dynamics in bulk ternary alloys and multiple quantum wells (MQWs). Studies of the bulk alloy Al(x)Ga(1-x)As have been produced the first experimental isolation of the electron exchange energy in a dense electron-hole plasma, and the observation of enhanced band-gap renormalization as a consequence of alloy disorder, stimulated emission from the indirect gap for x-values as large as 0.52, and large optical nonlinearities from band filling, band-gap renormalization, and screening of the excitonic continuum states. The latter appear promising for room temperature absorptive and dispersive optical bistability. An exact theory of the influence of an intense radiation field on the excitonic energy levels of a MQW has been developed and has led to the prediction of two-wave mixing gain. Keywords: Nonlinear optics; Ultrafast phenomena; Multiple quantum wells; Band gap renormalization; Alloy disorder; Optical bistability.
Absorption spectra of strained InGaAs/InP quantum wells exhibit a single, unusually large exciton feature. 60% quenching is obtained for 4.3 mW Nd:YAG effective pump power at a wavelength of 1.064 mu m. A simple two-level formula fits well the behaviour at the exciton peak, and absorption spectra are reasonably approximated by a standard two-dimensional exciton model. Saturation intensities calculated with these techniques range around 200 W cm-2. Finally the Kramers-Kronig relations are used to calculate the associated refractive index change.