All-optical control of the resonant-photon tunneling effect observed in GaAs∕AlGaAs multilayered structures containing quantum dots

Abstract

We observed the resonant-photon tunneling (RPT) effect at the 1.5μm optical communications waveband in a GaAs∕AlGaAs multilayered structure containing InGaSb quantum dots (QDs) as an active medium by a silicon prism total-reflection measurement. A sharp reflectance dip due to the RPT effect was clearly observed at a resonant-incidence angle in the total reflection region. The resonant-incidence angle clearly shifted when control light was irradiated onto the QD active layer. We demonstrated that the reflectance around the resonant-incidence angle can be controlled all-optically using the control light irradiation. These results clearly indicate the possibility of creating RPT devices for all-optical signal processing in the optical communication wavebands.