title: All-optical switching in silicon-on-insulator photonic wire nano-cavities.
abstract: We report on experimental demonstration of all-optical switching in a silicon-on-insulator photonic wire nanocavity operating at telecom wavelengths. The switching is performed with a control pulse energy as low as approximately 0.1 pJ on a cavity device that presents very high signal transmission, an ultra-high quality-factor, almost diffraction-limited modal volume and a footprint of only 5 microm(2). High-speed modulation of the cavity mode is achieved by means of optical injection of free carriers using a nanosecond pulsed laser. Experimental results are interpreted by means of finite-difference time-domain simulations. The possibility of using this device as a logic gate is also demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica A. Volta and UdR CNISM, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy. michele.belotti@unipv.it
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belotti
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gerace
authors.forename: Lucio Claudio
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Andreani
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guizzetti
authors.forename: Ahmad R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Md Zain
authors.forename: Nigel P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sorel
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: De La Rue
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055096:Optical Devices; D017785:Photons; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon