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AIP conference proceedings

Optical bistable interaction of laser radiation with microparticles

K. M. Leung

Published Jan 1, 1987• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Intrinsic optical bistability in the scattering and absorption of light from Rayleigh‐sized microparticles having an intensity‐dependent refractive index is theoretically investigated. For particles near plasmon resonances optical switching occurs with several orders of magnitude reduction in the switching intensity. Besides acting as an optical memory element whose size is small compared with the incident wavelength, the microparticle also exhibits an optical transistor mode with a sizable differential gain.

DOI
10.1063/1.36814

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Intrinsic optical bistability in the scattering and absorption of light from Rayleigh‐sized microparticles having an intensity‐dependent refractive index is theoretically investigated. For particles near plasmon resonances optical switching occurs with several orders of magnitude reduction in the switching intensity. Besides acting as an optical memory element whose size is small compared with the incident wavelength, the microparticle also exhibits an optical transistor mode with a sizable differential gain.
Intrinsic optical bistability in the scattering and absorption of light from Rayleigh-particle-sized microparticles having an intensity-dependent refractive index is theoretically investigated. For particles near plasmon resonances optical switching also occurs by sweeping the frequency across the resonance at fixed incident intensity above a certain threshold. Several orders of magnitudes of reduction in the switching intensities are possible near sharp resonances, and an optical transistor mode with a very sizable differential gain can be achieved.
Intrinsic optical bistability in the scattering and absorption of laser radiation from microparticles having an intensity-dependent refractive index is investigated.1 We work only with particles whose radius is small compared with the wavelength of the incident radiation. Our calculation is based on the assumption that the electric field inside the particle is in fact uniform (as is the case in the linear regime). For particles with fairly sharp surface piasmon resonances, optical bistability can occur if the frequency detuning is above a certain critical value. The threshold intensity is found to be reduced by several orders of magnitude compared with the non-resonant case. Optical switching can also occur at fixed intensity above the threshold by sweeping the frequency across the resonant frequency. Right at the critical detuning frequency, the particle can act as an optical transistor with a very sizable differential gain. Spherical1 as well as elongated microparticles2 are studied. In the latter case, optical tristability can also be achieved, and there are, in addition, interesting shape dependence and orientational effects.
We provide a self-consistent mean field approximation in the framework of Mie scattering theory to study the optical bistability of a metallic nanoparticle coated with a nonlinear shell. We demonstrate that the nanoparticle coated with a weakly nonlinear shell exhibits optical bistability in a broad range of incident optical intensity. This optical bistability critically relies on the geometry of the shell-coated nanoparticle, especially the fractional volume of the metallic core. The incident wavelength can also affect the optical bistability. Through an optimization-like process, we find a design with broader bistable region and lower threshold field by adjusting the size of the nonlinear shell, the fractional volume of the metallic core, and the incident wavelength. These results may find potential applications in optical bistable devices such as all-optical switches, optical transistors and optical memories.
Using computer simulation, the feasibility of absorption optical bistability based on the dependence of the absorption coefficient on an electric field induced by a high-intensity laser pulse acting on a semiconductor and shifting the energy levels of atoms is demonstrated. Unlike the known mechanisms behind absorption optical bistability, here enhanced diffusion of charged particles does not change the rate of switching the system from the lower to upper state. Radiation-semiconductor interaction conditions are found when, after being switched to the upper state, the system remains in it until the laser pulse disappears.
When the output parameter of an optical device could be a multivalued function of the input parameter, this device can be working in an optical bistable status. The most typical optical bistable device is a Fabry–Perot cavity containing a nonlinear optical medium, the refractive index of which depends on the light intensity. Upon the action of an intense input optical beam, the transmitted (or reflected) intensity of this device may exhibit a nonlinear response to the incident light intensity variation and, especially under appropriate working conditions, the characteristic output/input curve may manifest a single (or multiple) hysteresis loop(s). Such type of optical bistable device can be used as an optical differential amplifier, optical switch, optical limiter, optical clipper, optical discriminator, or an optical memory element, depending on the chosen nonlinear medium and operation conditions.