Optical bistability in a triple semiconductor quantum well structure with tunnelling-induced interference

We study the behavior of optical bistability (OB) in a triple semiconductor quantum well structure with tunnelling-induced interference, where the system is driven coherently by the probe laser inside the unidirectional ring cavity. The results show that we are able to control efficiently the bistable threshold intensity and the hysteresis loop by tuning the parameters of the system such as laser frequency and tunnelling-induced frequency splitting. This investigation can be used for the development of new types of nanoelectronic devices for realizing switching process.     

Nonlinearity penalties and benefits of light traveling in a fiber optic ring resonator

The nonlinearity properties of light traveling in a fiber optic ring resonator (FORR) are presented. The nonlinearity penalties suffering from Kerr effects and four-wave mixing nonlinear types including bistability, chaos and bifurcation are investigated. The advantages of the nonlinearity penalties including photon correlation, optical switching and information security using chaotic signals are also discussed. The obtained results have shown that the parameters of FORR can be changed, and thus the penalties of the nonlinear effects have shown the potential of using for some applications.     

Nonlinear polarisation effects in optical microcoil resonators with fibre twist and birefringence

We study the nonlinear response of optical microcoil resonators (OMRs) based on twisted birefringent microfibres by incorporating Kerr nonlinearity into the underlying coupled mode equations. The resulting hysteresis characteristics were found to be highly polarisation dependent, with both the switching powers and contrast levels strongly influenced by the twist-induced cross-polarisation coupling. In addition, the existence of multiple bistability in OMRs is explored when the two orthogonal polarisations' resonances are spectrally close enough to influence the propagation of a monochromatic pump. Both the bistability and nonlinear switching may potentially be utilised for implementing polarisation-sensitive devices, especially for signal processing purposes, and benefit from the low threshold powers needed to observe nonlinear effects in OMRs.     

Optical bistability on a silicon chip

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, optical bistability on a highly integrated silicon device, using a 5-microm-radius ring resonator. The strong light-confinement nature of the resonator induces nonlinear optical response with low pump power. We show that the optical bistability allows all-optical functionalities, such as switching and memory with microsecond time response and a modulation depth of 10 dB, driven by pump power as low as 45 microW. Silicon optical bistability relies on a fast thermal nonlinear optical effect presenting a 500-kHz modulation bandwidth.     

Carrier-induced optical bistability in silicon ring resonators

We demonstrate optical bistability in a micrometer-sized silicon ring resonator based on the free-carrier dispersion effect in silicon. We measure the transfer function of the resonator showing a hysteresis loop with an input optical power of less than 10 mW. The influence of the thermal optical effect, which is minimized in the experiment by use of nanosecond pulses, is evaluated theoretically. Applications include sequential logic operations for all-optical routing.     

Optical bistability in axially modulated OmniGuide fibers

We demonstrate the feasibility of optical bistability in an axially modulated nonlinear OmniGuide fiber through analytical theory and detailed numerical experiments. At 1.55-microm carrier wavelength, the in-fiber devices that we propose can operate with only a few tens of milliwatts of power, can have a nearly instantaneous response and recovery time, and can be shorter than 100 microm.     

Nonlinear photonic crystal microdevices for optical integration

A four-port nonlinear photonic crystal system is discussed that exhibits optical bistability with negligible backscattering to the inputs, making it particularly suitable for integration with other active devices on the same chip. Devices based on this system can be made to be small [O(lambda3)] in volume, have a nearly instantaneous response, and consume only a few milliwatts of power. Among many possible applications, we focus on an all-optical transistor and integrated optical isolation.     

CdSSe玻璃在环形腔中的自振荡

两表面镀有高反射膜,自身形成F-P腔的CdSSe玻璃薄片置于环形腔中.在一定的输入光强参数下,反射光信号出现其有某种规律性的振荡.实验观测了作为输入光强函数的不同振荡模式.由于所用样品的光双稳回线宽阔,上下两支有较大的倾斜度,我们观察到较大数目的输出强度上升与下降台阶.简单的绝热模拟表明,自振荡的模式遵从Farey-tree结构.     

Optical bistability in fiber ring resonator containing an EDFA

In this paper, we study on optical bistability behaviors in a double-coupler ring resonator, in which an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is inserted into the ring for counteracting the loss by the gain of EDFA. The two groups of transmitted and reflected optical bistability loops under different parameters are investigated symmetrically. According to our optimum design of this new optical bistable device, the switching power can be less than 60 mW.     

Influence of nonlinear absorption effects on optical bistability in semiconductor ring resonators

We present a theoretical investigation of optical bistability in a nonlinear semiconductor ring resonator, by taking into account the two-photon absorption and the free-carrier absorption. By solving the intensity equation within the ring resonator, a parametric formulation is obtained for describing the bistability relation between the input and the output intensities. Numerical results show that the nonlinear absorption effects can affect the critical points and domain of the optical bistability.     

Controllable optical bistability and multistability in asymmetric double quantum wells via spontaneously generated coherence

We investigate the nonlinear optical phenomena of the optical bistability and multistability via spontaneously generated coherence in an asymmetric double quantum well structure coupled by a weak probe field and a controlling field. It is shown that the threshold and hysteresis cycle of the optical bistability can be conveniently controlled only by adjusting the intensity of the SGC or the controlling field. Moreover, switching between optical bistability and multistability can be achieved. These studies may have practical significance for the preparation of optical bistable switching device.     

Self oscillations of a bistable element in two coupled hybrid ring resonators

A CdS crystal showing thermally induced optical bistability is incorporated into two coupled hybrid ring resonators with different delay times. Both delay times are much longer than the relaxation time of the nonlinearity. The resulting self-oscillations are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. We find two different types of oscillation modes. If the crystal is on the lower branch of the bistability during the longer delay time, step like oscillations similar to the case of a single resonator occur. If the crystal is in the lower state onlh for the shorter delay time (also the shorter of the two delay times is much longer than the relaxation time) we find more complicated modes with plateaus and stairs because the long resonator acts as a memory for the system state before the switching process. We find complex mode locking structures exhibiting Farey-tree like transitions between different oscillation modes as well as mode coexistence. Based on an adiabatic theory we compute the regions of extstence of the different oscillation modes and compare them with experimental results.     

Optical bistability in GaInAsP/InP coupled-circular resonator microlasers

Optical bistability is realized in GaInAsP/InP coupled-circular resonator microlasers, which are fabricated by planar technology. For a coupled-circular resonator microlaser with the radius of 20?μm and a 2?μm-wide bus waveguide, hysteresis loops are observed for the output power coupling into an optical fiber versus the cw injection current at room temperature. The laser output spectra of the upper and lower states of the hysteresis loop indicate that the bistability is related to mode competitions. The optical bistability can be explained as the mode competition between the symmetry and antisymmetry coupled modes relative to the bus waveguide.     

Cavity nonlinear optics at low photon numbers from collective atomic motion

We report on Kerr nonlinearity and dispersive optical bistability of a Fabry-Perot optical resonator due to the displacement of ultracold atoms trapped within. In the driven resonator, such collective motion is induced by optical forces acting upon up to 10(5) 87Rb atoms prepared in the lowest band of a one-dimensional intracavity optical lattice. The longevity of atomic motional coherence allows for strongly nonlinear optics at extremely low cavity photon numbers, as demonstrated by the observation of both branches of optical bistability at photon numbers below unity.     

Smart pixel optical sensor based on positive optical feedback

A smart pixel optical sensor based on positive optical feedback is described and demonstrated. The scheme uses the reflectance of an external scene as part of the positive feedback loop and uses the nonlinear characteristics of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser to obtain bistability and hysteresis. As a result, the continuous reflectance variation of the scene is mapped to a digital output with increased noise immunity for each pixel of the array.     

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.     

Enhanced all-optical switching by use of a nonlinear fiber ring resonator

We predict dramatically reduced switching thresholds for nonlinear optical devices incorporating fiber ring resonators. The circulating power in such a resonator is much larger than the incident power; also, the phase of the transmitted light varies rapidly with the single-pass phase shift. The combined action of these effects leads to a finesse-squared reduction in the switching threshold, allowing for photonic switching devices that operate at milliwatt power levels in ordinary optical fibers.     

基于开环振荡器阵列磁振荡效应的全光开关

We demonstrate an all-optical switching of the magnetic resonance properties associated with a metallic Split Ring Resonator（SRR） array. The periodically spaced elements are fabricated on a high-resistivity silicon wafer and probed by using conventional Terahertz （THz） time-domain spectroscopy. We use a continuous-wave laser diode to generate carriers in the gaps of the SRR elements. Using a sufficient power, this opti- cal excitation can create an effective short gap, which would switch the resonant properties of the metamaterial from that of an SRR array to that of a closed ring resonator array and leads to dramatic changes in the THz transmission. In the present experiment, the optically induced switching is associated with the magnetic reso- nance. However, with appropriate changes in the device structure, this approach can be extended to switch a medium with a negative real index of refraction to a medium with a positive real index of refraction. This opens the way to creat a broad new range of active devices.     

Analysis of Transient Optical Bistability and Stability in a Nonlinear Fiber Fabry-Perot Resonator Based on an Iterative Method

We perform a transient analysis, steady-state analysis, and linear stability analysis of a nonlinear Fabry-Perot resonator in order to examine the possibility of a fiber bistable device. We here develop two iterative methods for calculating the dynamics of the Fabry-Perot resonator containing a nonlinear medium with an instantaneous response time. The treatment of the counter-propagating field within the cavity is very important in estimating the nonlinear phase shift due to propagation. A trapezoid rule and midpoint rule are used here for the numerical integration. The iterative method using the trapezoid rule gives excellent agreement with the multiple-beam method developed by Bischofberger and Shen (Phys. Rev. A 19 (1979) 1169), which is more complicated than the proposed procedure. Unfortunately it is found that the midpoint approximation is numerically unstable. Assuming a conventional optical fiber, the switching power for optical bistability is less than 1 kW for a resonator length of 1-2 cm. On the basis of the iterative method, we perform a linear stability analysis to examine whether Ikeda instability affects bistable device application or not. The stability analysis shows that the instability threshold is two orders of magnitude larger than the switching power for optical bistability.     

Sideband control of optical bistability and multistability

We present sideband control of optical bistability and multistability based on trichromatic electromagnetic-field induced transparency and quantum interference. Appearance or disappearance of the bistability and multistability, manipulation of the hysteresis loop widths, and switching between bistability and tristability are achieved simply by varying the sideband amplitudes or the relative phases of the sidebands to the central component.