Abstract
Weak material nonlinearity at optical frequencies poses a serious hurdle to realizing optical bistability at low optical powers, which is a critical component for digital optical computing. In this paper, we explore the cavity enhancement of the second-order optical nonlinearity in order to determine the feasibility of few photon optical bistability. Starting from a quantum optical formalism of a doubly resonant cavity (required to meet the condition of phase matching), we derive a dynamic classical model of a cavity that is bistable at the fundamental mode. We analyze the optical energy and the switching speed as a function of the cavity quality factors and mode volumes and identify the regime where only ten's of photons are required to perform the switching. An unusual trend in the switching speed is also observed, where the speed monotonically decreases as the cavity linewidth increases. This is ascribed to the increase in the switching gain with increasing cavity linewidth.
Highlights
It has long been a goal of optical physicists to utilize light to control the transmission of another optical signal, and constructing all optical logic gates [1]
One way to achieve such control is via optical bistability, in which two distinct output optical powers can be achieved for the same input power [2]
We have analyzed the performance of an optically bistable system based on second-order nonlinearity in terms of the power and the speed of operation via a simple dynamic classical model
Summary
It has long been a goal of optical physicists to utilize light to control the transmission of another optical signal, and constructing all optical logic gates [1]. Silicon compatible materials (i.e. silicon or silicon nitride) have long formed the foundation of electronic devices and have recently emerged as a scalable technology for photonics [11, 12] These materials lack a second-order nonlinear susceptibility, which, when present, is often much stronger and subsequently, more effective in reducing the required optical input power. Silicon materials and their existing fabrication infrastructure could still form the basis for optically bistable devices if one can successfully incorporate strongly nonlinear materials with silicon photonic devices. We analyze how the required optical power scales with cavity parameters as well as examine switching speeds by modeling the dynamics of the bistable switch
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