Open AccessExtremely low power optical bistability in silicon demonstrated using 1D photonic crystal nanocavity
Author(s) -
Laurent Daniel Haret,
Takasumi Tanabe,
Eiichi Kuramochi,
Masaya Notomi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.17.021108
Subject(s) - optical bistability , photonic crystal , bistability , optics , materials science , optoelectronics , silicon , optical power , power (physics) , silicon photonics , nonlinear optics , physics , laser , quantum mechanics
We demonstrate optical bistability in silicon using a high-Q (Q > 105) one-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity at an extremely low 1.6 microW input power that is one tenth the previously reported value. Owing to the device's unique geometrical structure, light and heat efficiently confine in a very small region, enabling strong thermo-optic confinement. We also showed with numerical analyses that this device can operate at a speed of approximately 0.5 micros.