All-optical switching in silicon-on-insulator photonic wire nano-cavities.
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.
Belotti
Michele
M
Dipartimento di Fisica A. Volta and UdR CNISM, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy. michele.belotti@unipv.it
Galli
Matteo
M
Gerace
Dario
D
Andreani
Lucio Claudio
LC
Guizzetti
Giorgio
G
Md Zain
Ahmad R
AR
Johnson
Nigel P
NP
Sorel
Marc
M
De La Rue
Richard M
RM
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
D012825:Silicon