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Reconfigurable light-driven opto-acoustic isolators in photonic crystal fibre

Nature Photonics volume 5, pages 549–553 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Dynamic optical isolation with all-optical switching capability is in great demand in advanced optical communications and all-optical signal processing systems. Most conventional optical isolators rely on Faraday rotation and are realized using micro/nanofabrication techniques, but it is not always straightforward to incorporate magneto-optical crystals into these compact systems. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a reconfigurable all-optical isolator based on optical excitation of a gigahertz guided acoustic mode in a micrometre-sized photonic crystal fibre core. This device has remarkable advantages over its passive counterparts, including a large dynamic range of isolation, fast switching capability and reversibility, which provide new functionality that is useful in various types of all-optical systems. Devices based on similar physical principles could also be realized in CMOS-compatible silicon on-chip platforms.

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Figure 1: Principles of unidirectional opto-acoustic interactions.
Figure 2: Schematic diagrams of the optically controlled unidirectional optical devices based on forward SIPS.
Figure 3: Experimental set-up.
Figure 4: Input and output spectra of forward- and backward-propagating signals.
Figure 5: Dependence of signal transmission of the device on input control power.
Figure 6: Switching characteristics of the device.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Str. 1/Bau 24, Erlangen, 91058, Germany

    M. S. Kang, A. Butsch & P. St. J. Russell

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  1. M. S. Kang
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  2. A. Butsch
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  3. P. St. J. Russell
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Contributions

P.St.J.R. conceived the idea. M.S.K. designed and performed the experiments. M.S.K. and A.B. carried out the theoretical analysis. All authors discussed the results and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. S. Kang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Kang, M., Butsch, A. & Russell, P. Reconfigurable light-driven opto-acoustic isolators in photonic crystal fibre. Nature Photon 5, 549–553 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2011.180

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