Ultrafast optical switching in three-dimensional photonic crystals
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Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
D A Mazurenko1, R Kerst, J I Dijkhuis
1Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics, Debye Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utrecht, PO Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands. D.A.Mazurenko@phys.uu.nl
Abstract:
We present the first experimental investigation of ultrafast optical switching in a three-dimensional photonic crystal made of a Si-opal composite. Ultrafast (30 fs) changes in reflectivity around the photonic stop band up to 1% were measured for moderate pump power (70 microJ/cm(2)). Short-lived photoexcited carriers in silicon induce changes in the dielectric constant of Si and diminish the constructive interference inside the photonic crystal. The results are analyzed within a model based on a two-band mixing formalism.
