title: Optical bistability in a nonlinear-shell-coated metallic nanoparticle.
abstract: We provide a self-consistent mean field approximation in the framework of Mie scattering theory to study the optical bistability of a metallic nanoparticle coated with a nonlinear shell. We demonstrate that the nanoparticle coated with a weakly nonlinear shell exhibits optical bistability in a broad range of incident optical intensity. This optical bistability critically relies on the geometry of the shell-coated nanoparticle, especially the fractional volume of the metallic core. The incident wavelength can also affect the optical bistability. Through an optimization-like process, we find a design with broader bistable region and lower threshold field by adjusting the size of the nonlinear shell, the fractional volume of the metallic core, and the incident wavelength. These results may find potential applications in optical bistable devices such as all-optical switches, optical transistors and optical memories.
authors.affiliation: College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy of Soochow University, &Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.|Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore.
authors.forename: Youming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore.|Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore.
authors.forename: Baile
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy of Soochow University, &Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao