title: Optical bistable devices based on guided-mode resonance in slab waveguide gratings.
abstract: We investigate properties of nonlinear resonant gratings with emphasis on optical bistability. Slab waveguide gratings with various quality factors are designed and their characteristics analyzed with a finite-difference time-domain method. Considerable field enhancements are observed in the gratings and the performance compares favorably with metallic bistable devices. Bistability based on coupled gratings is also treated. Mechanically controllable switching intensity realized by varying a gap distance between two gratings is demonstrated. Resonant nonlinear elements in this work may find applications in all-optical information processing and optical switching, and our investigation on the dependence of the normalized switching intensity and the response time on quality factor will provide a general guide line for grating-based bistable device design.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
authors.forename: Quang Minh
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.forename: Sangin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seok Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Magnusson
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D055096:Optical Devices; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*