Ultrafast optical switching in Kerr nonlinear photonic crystals

Nonlinear photonic crystals made from polystyrene materials that have Kerr nonlinearity can exhibit ultrafast optical switching when the samples are pumped by ultrashort optical pulses with high intensity due to the change of the refractive index of polystyrene and subsequent shift of the band gap edge or defect state resonant frequency. Polystyrene has a large Kerr nonlinear susceptibility and almost instantaneous response to pump light, making it suitable for the realization of ultrafast optical switching with a response time as short as a few femtoseconds. In this paper, we review our experimental progress on the continual improvement of all-optical switching speed in two-dimensional and three-dimensional polystyrene nonlinear photonic crystals in the past years. Several relevant issues are discussed and analyzed, including different mechanisms for all-optical switching, preparation of nonlinear photonic crystal samples by means of microfabrication and self-assembly techniques, characterization of optical switching performance by means of femtosecond pump-probe technique, and different ways to lower the pump power of optical switching to facilitate practical applications in optical information processing. Finally, a brief summary and a perspective of future work are provided.     

Saturable and reverse saturable absorption of a linear polymer in dimethylformamide

An all-optical tunable narrow-band filter with an ultrafast response time of 10 ps is realized in a two-dimensional nonlinear polystyrene photonic crystal. The pump and probe scheme is adopted to measure tunability based on the picosecond optical Kerr effect. The passband of the photonic crystal filter shifts about 4 nm under excitation of 14.7 GW/cm² pump intensity, which is in agreement with the theoretical prediction. PACS 42.70.Qs; 61.46.+w; 81.15.-z     

All-optical tunable photonic bandgap microcavities with a femtosecond time response

An all-optical tunable photonic bandgap microcavity made from a two-dimensional polystyrene photonic crystal is fabricated by focused ion beam etching. The pump and probe scheme is adopted to measure tunability based on the femtosecond optical Kerr effect. An ultrafast response time of less than 120 fs is achieved for the tunable photonic bandgap microcavity. The microcavity resonant wavelength shifts 3.1 nm under excitation of 9.4 GW/cm2 pump intensity, which is in agreement with the theoretical prediction.     

Large Kerr effect in bulk Se-based chalcogenide glasses

High-speed optical communication requires ultrafast all-optical processing and switching capabilities. The Kerr nonlinearity, an ultrafast optical nonlinearity, is often used as the basic switching mechanism. A practical, small device that can be switched with ~1-pJ energies requires a large Kerr effect with minimal losses (both linear and nonlinear). We have investigated theoretically and experimentally a number of Se-based chalcogenide glasses. We have found a number of compounds with a Kerr nonlinearity hundreds of times larger than silica, making them excellent candidates for ultrafast all-optical devices.     

Ultra-fast all-optical switching in MEH-PPV photonic crystals with resonantly enhanced nonlinearity

Photonic crystal all-optical switching is realized in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals made of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]. Organic polymer films are fabricated by a slow evaporation method. Under resonant excitation, the organic matrix provides very large third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility. An operating pump energy as low as 514 pJ/cm² and a high switching efficiency of 70% are achieved for the photonic crystal optical switching. A switching time of 45.6 ps is maintained due to fast Forster transfer of excitons.     

基于双矩形腔边耦合波导的等离子体诱导透明效应

为了降低功耗、实现超快速响应,设计了一种基于双矩形腔边耦合等离子体波导系统,并研究了其等离子体诱导透明效应.采用光学Kerr效应超快调控石墨烯-Ag复合材料波导结构,实现1 ps量级的超快响应时间.动态调控等离子体波导的传输相移,当泵浦光强为5.83 MW/cm^2时,等离子体诱导透明系统能够实现透射光谱π相移,这是因为基于石墨烯-Ag复合材料结构等离子体波导具有大的等效光学Kerr非线性系数,表面等离子体激元局域光场和等离子体诱导透明效应慢光对光学Kerr效应产生了协同增强作用,大大降低了系统获得透射光谱π相移的泵浦光强.等离子体诱导透明效应透明窗口的可调谐带宽为40 nm,系统的群延时控制在0.15 ps到0.85 ps之间,并且光波通过间接耦合或者相位耦合机制实现了等离子体诱导透明效应相移倍增效应.耦合模式理论计算结果很好地吻合了时域有限差分法仿真模拟结果,研究结果对于低功耗、超快速非线性响应和紧凑型光子器件的设计和制作具有一定的参考意义.     

Chalcogenide glass photonic crystals

All-optical switching devices are based on a material possessing a nonlinear optical response, enabling light to control light, and are enjoying renewed interest. Photonic crystals are a promising platform for realizing compact all-optical switches operating at very low power and integrated on an optical integrated circuit. In this review, we show that by making photonic crystals from a highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass, we have the potential to integrate a variety of active devices into a photonic chip. We describe the fabrication and testing of two-dimensional Ge₃₃As₁₂ Se₅₅ chalcogenide glass photonic crystal membrane devices (waveguides and microcavities). We then demonstrate the ability to post-tune the devices using the material photosensitivity. In one proposal we hope to introduce a double-heterostructure microcavity using the photosensitivity alone.     

Ultra-fast optical switches using 1D polymeric photonic crystals

We report fabrication of ultra-fast optical switches operated at a wavelength of 1064 nm using spin-coated one-dimensional polymeric photonic crystals doped with nonlinear-optical dyes. The optical switches are controlled either by an applied electric-field voltage or by a pump light by use of two different optical-configurations. The response time of the electro-optic switch and the all-optical switch are limited by the applied voltage and the laser used, respectively. The polymeric photonic crystals can be easily fabricated with low cost.     

Enhanced linear and nonlinear optical phase response of AlGaAs microring resonators

We have constructed and characterized several optical microring resonators with scale sizes of the order of 10 microm. These devices are intended to serve as building blocks for engineerable linear and nonlinear photonic media. Light is guided vertically by an epitaxially grown structure and transversely by deeply etched air-clad sidewalls. We report on the spectral phase transfer characteristics of such resonators. We also report the observation of a pi-rad Kerr nonlinear phase shift accumulated in a single compact ring resonator evidenced by all-optical switching between output ports of a resonator-enhanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer.     

Nonlinear optical switching matrix

We show that nonlinear directional couplers with variable coupling coefficients can be used to compose a special kind of switching matrix. The switching matrix can be controlled by the signal itself or by a strong pump. Light routing is realized by adjustment of the power of the signal or the pump. Because light routing is based on the optical Kerr effect, ultrafast routing is possible.     

一维非线性光子晶体全光开关的数值研究

在光子晶体的缺陷层内掺入Kerr介质,基于Kerr非线性效应导致的缺陷态迁移原理,设计了两种一维光子晶体全光开关结构.应用时域有限差分（FD-TD）法,编制Matlab计算程序,对全光开关进行数值特性分析.讨论频率混合效应对全光开关的影响.观察光子局域效应增强光子晶体非线性的现象,验证了光子局域效应与光子晶体完整周期结构的层数有关,层数太少光子局域效应不明显.     

All-optical switching in subwavelength metallic grating structure containing nonlinear optical materials

All-optical switching based on a subwavelength metallic grating structure containing nonlinear optical materials has been proposed and numerically investigated. Metal-dielectric composite material is used in the switching for its larger third-order nonlinear susceptibility (approximately 10(-7)esu) and ultrafast response properties. The calculated dependence of the signal light intensity on the pump light intensity shows a bistable behavior, which results in a significant switch effect. It rests on a surface plasmon's enhanced intensity-dependent change of the effective dielectric constant of Kerr nonlinear media, corresponding to a transition of the far-field transmission from a low- to high-transmission state. The study of this switching structure shows great advantages of smaller size, lower requirement of pump light intensity, and shorter switching time at approximately the picosecond level.     

Design of high-Q silicon-polymer hybrid photonic crystal nanobeam microcavities for low-power and ultrafast all-optical switching

Owing to the unique optical properties high-Q photonic crystal nanobeam microcavities have been demonstrated in a variety of materials. In this paper the design of high-Q silicon-polymer hybrid photonic crystal nanobeam microcavities is investigated using the three-dimensional plane-wave expansion method and finite-difference time-domain method. We first discuss the design of high-Q nanobeam microcavities in silicon-on-insulator, after which the polymer is introduced into the air void to form the hybrid structures. Quality factor as high as 1 × 10⁴ has been obtained for our silicon-polymer hybrid nanobeam microcavities without exhaustive parameter examination. In addition the field distribution of resonant mode can be tuned to largely overlap with polymer materials. Because of the overwhelmingly large Kerr nonlinearity of polymer over silicon, the application in all-optical switching is presented by studying the shift of the resonant frequency on the change of refractive index of polymer. The minimum switching intensity of only 0.37 GW/cm² is extracted for our high-Q hybrid microcavities and the corresponding single pulse energy is also discussed according to the pumping methods. The total switching time is expected to be restricted by the photon lifetime in cavity due to the ultrafast response speed of polymer. Our silicon-polymer hybrid nanobeam microcavities show great promise in constructing small-sized all-optical devices or circuits with advantages of possessing low-power and ultrafast speed simultaneously.     

飞秒光诱导铽镓石榴石晶体中的磁化响应研究

运用时间分辨抽运-探测光谱技术,研究了磁光晶体铽镓石榴石(TGG)在不同椭圆偏振态的飞秒激光脉冲诱导下的极化和磁化响应.研究表明,当仅存在逆法拉第效应时,探测光旋转角信号和椭圆率信号的变化方向与圆偏振抽运光的旋向相关.这是由于圆偏振光在TGG晶体中产生的瞬态有效磁场的方向依赖于圆偏振光的旋向所致.光诱导磁化过程与材料的性质有关,TGG晶体的顺磁特性决定了其自旋弛豫时间为几十飞秒.由于探测光旋转角信号和椭圆率信号的半高全宽均为500 fs左右,加之信号强度随着抽运光脉冲能量密度的增加呈线性增长,表明TGG晶 关键词： 铽镓石榴石晶体 抽运-探测光谱技术 逆法拉第效应     

水溶性CdTe量子点的三阶光学非线性极化特性

利用超短脉冲Z扫描技术和光学Kerr效应研究了以巯基丙酸为稳定剂的CdTe量子点水溶液的三阶光学非线性极化特性. 在532nm,30ps和800nm,130fs脉冲激光激发下, 发现分别具有正负相反取值的三阶光学非线性折射率,自由载流子吸收和双光子吸收分别是这两种脉冲激光激发下三阶光学非线性吸收的起因. 测量得到CdTe量子点的三阶光学非线性极化率约为CS₂的32倍, 在520—700nm光谱区的CdTe量子点的光学响应时间小于400fs. 关键词： CdTe量子点(QDs) Z扫描 三阶光学非线性极化特性 双光子吸收     

Dynamical switching and memory via incoherent pump assisted optical bistability

We analyze the dynamical behavior of all-optical switching and memory based on tunable optical bistability in a three-level Λ-type atomic system driven by a probe field circulating in an optical ring cavity, a coherent coupling field and an incoherent pump field outside cavity. Owing to the incoherent pump process, the absorption and Kerr nonlinearity near the atomic resonance change dramatically as a result of varied population distribution and atomic coherence, and then the switch-up and switch-down thresholds, as well as the width (or area) of bistable curve, can be manipulated effectively. By tuning the intensity of either coherent coupling field or incoherent pump field, we can make the system output flip between the lower and upper branches of different bistable hysteresis loops while the cavity input keeps to a constant value. Accordingly, all-optical switching and memory can be implemented via dynamical control of the bistable behavior under the assistance of incoherent pump. The proposed scheme can find potential applications in all-optical communication and computation.     

Characterization and optimization of SOA-based UNI recirculating shift register switching window

The operation of an all-optical recirculating shift register implemented with the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based ultrafast nonlinear interferometer (UNI) in a counter-propagating, inverting configuration is methodically studied and analyzed. This is achieved by applying an appropriate model for a SOA deployed as the nonlinear element in an interferometric switch driven by ultrafast and strong feedback optical pulses. By means of numerical simulation the impact of the critical functional parameters on the formation of the switching window is thoroughly investigated and assessed enabling to provide useful design rules for their proper selection and combination so as to optimize the specific metric and ensure high performance. The undertaken theoretical treatment can be extended for characterizing other more complex all-optical circuits and subsystems of enhanced functionality that employ this type of shift register as the key building module.     

Nonlinear dual-core photonic crystal fiber couplers

We study nonlinear modes of dual-core photonic crystal fiber couplers made of a material with the focusing Kerr nonlinearity. We find numerically the profiles of symmetric, antisymmetric, and asymmetric nonlinear modes and analyze all-optical switching generated by the instability of the symmetric mode. We also describe elliptic spatial solitons controlled by the waveguide boundaries.     

研制超宽带全光取样示波器设备

全光取样示波器是研究与开发超高速光通信系统和光子交换网络的关键性测试仪器设备. 本文简介了我们自行设计和研制出的超宽带全光取样示波器设备的实验样机系统, 并报道了我们已取得的初步实验结果. 采用自主研发的高稳定性被动锁模飞秒光纤激光器作为该光学示波器的光脉冲取样源, 我们通过利用高度非线性光纤中的四波混频效应, 成功地实现了对脉宽为1.8ps、重复频率分别为10GHz和40GHz的光脉冲信号的全光取样. 然后通过数字信号处理和计算机图形处理, 得到了再现后的超短光脉冲信号波形, 并测出了其脉冲宽度值为2.3ps. 借助于该光学取样示波器实验样机, 我们还成功地完成了对脉宽为1.8ps、经过伪随机数据序列调制后的10Gbit/s和40Gbit/s光数据信号眼图的精确测量. 这是我国首次报道有关超宽带全光取样示波器设备的实际研制工作及其相应的实验测试结果. 所得到的有关超短光脉冲信号波形的测试结果也与用70GHz宽带电子示波器和超快光电探测器组成的常规光电测量系统所获得的结果进行了比较, 清楚地表明了我们研制出的全光取样示波器实验样机比后者具有更高的时间分辨率和更大的测量带宽.     

All-optical transistor action with bistable switching in a photonic crystal cross-waveguide geometry

We demonstrate all-optical switching action in a nonlinear photonic crystal cross-waveguide geometry with instantaneous Kerr nonlinearity, in which the transmission of a signal can be reversibly switched on and off by a control input. Our geometry accomplishes both spatial and spectral separation between the signal and the control in the nonlinear regime. The device occupies a small footprint of a few micrometers squared and requires only a few milliwatts of power at a 10-Gbit/s switching rate by use of Kerr nonlinearity in AlGaAs below half the electronic bandgap. We also show that the switching dynamics, as revealed by both coupled-mode theory and finite-difference time domain simulations, exhibits collective behavior that can be exploited to generate high-contrast logic levels and all-optical memory.