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Optics Letters

Hysteresis transmission of evanescent waves in a composite nonlinear device

Gabriel Borges Delfino, Pasquale Mormile

Published Dec 1, 1985• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The transition from the transmission regime to that of total internal reflection in a composite device using a nonlinear Kerr material is analyzed taking the Goos-Hänchen effect into consideration. Experimental evidence of the generation of shifted waves in such a material is shown. A computer simulation showing optical bistability in the device is also presented.

DOI
10.1364/ol.10.000618

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Abstract We investigate the nonlinear Goos–Hänchen shift of a light beam reflected from a prism-coupled leaky waveguide containing a Kerr medium. As the incident power varies, the system can switch between two states, total internal reflection and frustrated total reflection, owing to the inherent positive feedback arising from the intensity-dependent guiding mode resonance. The reflectance exhibits optical bistability; meanwhile, the lateral shift of the reflected beam also shows hysteresis behavior. It is found that the transition between the two stable states is related to the excitation of a leaky mode in the waveguide, which results from the modulation of the electric field in the nonlinear substrate. We also analyze the effects of system parameters on the bistable Goos–Hänchen shift. The thresholds as well as the width of the hysteresis curve are sensitive to the thicknesses of the gap layer and the guiding layer, which determine the resonance angle. The bistable lateral displacement in the slab waveguide may have potential applications in optical switching, beam steering, etc.

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The transition from the transmission regime to that of total internal reflection in a composite device using a nonlinear Kerr material is analyzed taking the Goos-Hänchen effect into consideration. Experimental evidence of the generation of shifted waves in such a material is shown. A computer simulation showing optical bistability in the device is also presented.
Abstract We investigate the nonlinear Goos–Hänchen shift of a light beam reflected from a prism-coupled leaky waveguide containing a Kerr medium. As the incident power varies, the system can switch between two states, total internal reflection and frustrated total reflection, owing to the inherent positive feedback arising from the intensity-dependent guiding mode resonance. The reflectance exhibits optical bistability; meanwhile, the lateral shift of the reflected beam also shows hysteresis behavior. It is found that the transition between the two stable states is related to the excitation of a leaky mode in the waveguide, which results from the modulation of the electric field in the nonlinear substrate. We also analyze the effects of system parameters on the bistable Goos–Hänchen shift. The thresholds as well as the width of the hysteresis curve are sensitive to the thicknesses of the gap layer and the guiding layer, which determine the resonance angle. The bistable lateral displacement in the slab waveguide may have potential applications in optical switching, beam steering, etc.
The reflection of light at the interface between linear and nonlinear media can provide fundamentally novel nonlinear effects such as nonlinear switching from total internal reflection to partial transmission, bleaching of the interface, and bistability. The nonlinear interface is the simplest switching and bistable optical device. Unlike bistable Fabry-Perot resonators, it allows one to use broadband sources of light and remove resonant restrictions on frequency tuning, and offers potentials to attain high operating speed. Experimental demonstration of those effects shows good agreement with some of the predictions of plane-wave theory. Some of the experimental results as well as computer simulation, however, show a new feature of the phenomenon which requires further exploration.
In the last chapter, we examined the effect of cubic nonlinearity on selfrefraction of an optical beam. We have also seen that the presence of a quadratic nonlinearity can also contribute to change in the profile of a Gaussian beam in a crystal. In this chapter we will see how the effect of nonlinearity, alongwith the proper feedback, can give rise to optical bistability and hysteresis. This is not unexpected as hysteresis and bistability are also observed in nonlinear electronic circuits with feedback, such as in the Schmitt trigger, as well as in hybrid optical devices, such as an acoustooptic device with feedback (Banerjee and Poon, 1991). In what follows, we will examine two different types of optically bistable devices based on optical nonlinearities. The first is a nonlinear ring resonator comprising a two-level gain medium as the nonlinear element. We will treat both absorptive and dispersive bistability. Absorptive bistability is the case when the incident optical frequency is close to or equal to the transition frequency of the atoms from one level to another. In this case, the absorption coefficient becomes a nonlinear function of the incident intensity. On the other hand, if the frequencies are far apart, the medium behaves like a Kerr-type material and the system exhibits what is called dispersive bistability. In this case the material can be modeled by an effective n2 or v (3), meaning that the refractive index becomes a nonlinear function of the optical intensity. The second configurationwewill examine is a linear-nonlinear interface. In this case, the interface provides the feedback due to refractive index mismatch. In fact, the reflection coefficient (as well as the transmission coefficient) is modified due to the nonlinearity, which, as we shall see later, is responsible for demonstrating optical switching and bistability.
Abstract Birefringence of lateral Goos-Hänchen (GH) shift in reflection and transmission beams are investigated through four level chiral atomic medium. Significant positive and negative shifts in reflection and transmission birefringence beams are reported under the strength of driving fields. At resonance point, positive birefringent shifts of 2.8 λ and 2 λ are noted in reflection beams. The birefringence lateral GH-shift in transmission beams show contrast behaviors of −2 λ and −2.8 λ at resonance point. A 30% fractional change in birefringent reflection and transmission beams with GH-shift are investigated. These results will play a vital role in the modification of optical heterodyne sensors technology, cloaking devices, image coding, integrated optical technologies and telecom industry.
In conventional optics for light waves, the pioneering work by Goos-Hänchen in 1947 on the lateral shift (or displacement) of a light beam along the surface of a dielectric boundary under the condition of total reflection has stimulated a large number of studies. The key physics behind the Goos-Hänchen shift is the nature of wave interference. From the perspective of wave optics, the incident beam of a finite transverse width can be viewed as composed of plane wave components, each of which has a slightly different transverse wavevector. Each wave component, after the total internal reflection, undergoes a different phase shift, and the superposition of all the reflected wave components gives rise to the lateral shift of the intensity peak in the reflected beam.