Abstract
We predict that nonlinear waveguides which support frozen light associated with a degenerate photonic band edge, where the dispersion relation is locally quartic, exhibit a tunable, all-optical switching response. The thresholds for switching are orders-of-magnitude lower than at regular band edges. By adjusting the input condition, bistability can be eliminated, preventing switching hysteresis.
Highlights
All-optical switching is the phenomenon by which the reflection or transmission of an optical system changes very rapidly upon a small change of input intensity [1]
We predict that nonlinear waveguides which support frozen light associated with a degenerate photonic band edge, where the dispersion relation is locally quartic, exhibit a tunable, all-optical switching response
Since the fast nonlinear effects which are of interest here tend to be weak, leading to high switching intensities, alloptical switching experiments are invariably carried out in guided-wave geometries where the light is transversely confined, enhancing the field strength [2]
Summary
All-optical switching is the phenomenon by which the reflection or transmission of an optical system changes very rapidly upon a small change of input intensity [1]. High field intensities inside a cavity enhance the response to input power change [5], when using cavity resonances to enlarge the optical field, bistability occurs which results in switching hysteresis [6]. The propagation of high-intensity light near a photonic band edge leads to a nonlinear shift of the band structure so that, at a fixed frequency, previously forbidden states become allowed states, or vice versa, leading to switching [11]. Such switching is accompanied by bistable regions [12].
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