Optical nonreciprocal bistable absorption in a one-dimensional asymmetric layered structure composed of nonlinear plasmas and general-function photonic crystals

Abstract

In this paper, a one-dimensional asymmetric layered structure combining general-function photonic crystals and nonlinear plasmas is proposed. The novel structure is theoretically investigated using the conventional transfer matrix method. Using these two special nonlinear materials, the optical nonreciprocity of the bistable absorption caused by forward and backward propagation is comprehensively studied. It is found that due to the asymmetry of the spatial distribution and the nonlinear properties of the nonlinear materials, the absorption, reflection, and transmission of light in two different directions, forward and backward, have apparent optical nonreciprocity. It is notable that when the light is traveling in the forward direction, the position of the working interval of the bistable absorption is significantly higher than that of the backward direction, and that the magnitudes of the absorptances corresponding to the forward and backward directions are also evidently different. Meanwhile, the sensitivity properties of the incident frequency and the angle under this optical nonreciprocity are further analyzed, and the reason for this extraordinary nonreciprocity phenomenon is explicated by the electric and magnetic field distributions of the proposed structure.