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Optical bistability and pulsating behaviour in Silicon-On-Insulator ring resonator structures.
Optics Express
|June 9, 2009
Summary
Optical bistability was achieved in a Silicon-On-Insulator ring resonator using low input power. The study analyzes nonlinear effects and relaxation times, revealing potential for optical memory or tunable pulse generation.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Nonlinear Optics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Optical bistability is crucial for all-optical signal processing.
- Silicon photonics offers a promising platform for integrated optical devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate low-power optical bistability in a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) two-bus ring resonator.
- To analyze the contributions of nonlinear optical effects and their impact on device performance.
- To investigate carrier and thermal relaxation dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Experimental demonstration of optical bistability using a SOI two-bus ring resonator.
- Varying input optical power to observe bistable switching.
- Analysis of nonlinear contributions and relaxation time constants.
Main Results:
- Optical bistability achieved with input powers as low as 0.3mW.
- Identified dominant nonlinear contributions and derived carrier and thermal relaxation time constants.
- Observed optical pulsation due to nonlinear effect interactions.
Conclusions:
- The SOI two-bus ring resonator exhibits efficient optical bistability at low power.
- Nonlinear effect interactions can lead to pulsation, posing challenges for memory/switching but enabling tunable pulse generation.
