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Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics

Optical bistability in reflection from multilayer metal-dielectric structure with Kerr nonlinearity

Svitlana G. Ilchenko, Ruslan A. Lymarenko, V. B. Taranenko

Published Mar 9, 2021• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Both static and dynamic characteristics of light reflected from a specially designed multilayer metal-dielectric structure with Kerr nonlinearity have been studied in this work. Various regimes of nonlinear reflection from the structure have been demonstrated, including bistable switching between low and high reflection states, which occurs at low intensity of the incident light due to a significant enhancement in the optical field in the nonlinear layer under conditions of total internal reflection. This nonlinear structure has been proposed to use as an optically controlled intracavity laser modulator.

DOI
10.15407/spqeo24.01.071

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Both static and dynamic characteristics of light reflected from a specially designed multilayer metal-dielectric structure with Kerr nonlinearity have been studied in this work. Various regimes of nonlinear reflection from the structure have been demonstrated, including bistable switching between low and high reflection states, which occurs at low intensity of the incident light due to a significant enhancement in the optical field in the nonlinear layer under conditions of total internal reflection. This nonlinear structure has been proposed to use as an optically controlled intracavity laser modulator.
Wysin et al1 suggested that the local field enhancement near a metal surface which occurs if surface plasmons are excited in a metal film, can be useful for observing optical bistability arising from the nonlinearity of the Kerr medium. Other geometrical arrangements2 have also been suggested. These studies assume plane waves in the nonlinear medium and use the Fresnel formulae for reflection and refraction from a layered medium but with linear refractive index replaced by the nonlinear refractive index. This assumes that the fields in the medium are homogeneous. However if surface plasmons are excited, then the fields are inhomogeneous and one has the problem of reflection and refraction from an inhomogeneous layered medium. The inhomogeneity is to be determined self consistently. Thus a proper treatment of optical bistability with surface plasmons should use the nonlinear solutions of the wave equation in Kerr medium. This is what we do in this paper.
A novel ultrafast all-optical switching based on metal-insulator-metal nanoplasmonic waveguide with a Kerr nonlinear resonator is proposed and investigated numerically. With the finite-difference time-domain simulations, it is demonstrated that an obvious optical bistability of the signal light appears by varying the control-light intensity, and an excellent switching effect is achieved. This bistability originates from the intensity-dependent change induced in the dielectric constant of Kerr nonlinear material filled in the nanodisk resonator. It is found that the proposed all-optical switching exhibits femtosecond-scale feedback time.
Optical bistability at nanoscale is a promising way to realize optical switching, a key component of integrated nanophotonic devices. In this work we present an analytical model for optical bistability in a metal nano-antenna involving Kerr nonlinear medium based on detailed analysis of the correlation between the incident and extinction light intensity under surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The model allows one to construct a clear picture on how the threshold, contrast, and other characteristics of optical bistability are influenced by the nonlinear coefficient, incident light intensity, local field enhancement factor, SPR peak width, and other physical parameters of the nano-antenna. It shows that the key towards low threshold power and high contrast optical bistability in the nanosystem is to reduce the SPR peak width. This can be achieved by reducing the absorption of metal materials or introducing gain media into nanosystems.