Abstract
The ultrafast response of a high-reflectivity GaAsAlAs Bragg mirror to optical pumping is investigated for all-optical switching applications. Both Kerr and free carrier nonlinearities are induced with 100 fs, 780 nm pulses with a fluence of 0.64 and 0.8 kJm2. The absolute transmission of the mirror at 931 nm increases by a factor of 27 from 0.0024% to 0.065% on a picosecond time scale. These results demonstrate the potential for a high-reflectivity ultrafast switchable mirror for quantum optics and optical communication applications. A design is proposed for a structure to be pumped below the band gaps of the semiconductor mirror materials. Theoretical calculations on this structure show switching ratios up to 2200 corresponding to switching from 0.017% to 37.4% transmission.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 031109 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-3 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 17 Jan 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank W. Irvine and C. Simon for useful discussions. This work was supported by NSF Grant No. PHY-0334970 and DARPA Grant No. MDA972-01-1-0027. S.H. is supported by a NSF Graduate Fellowship.