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Sub-femtojoule all-optical switching using a photonic-crystal nanocavity

Nature Photonics volume 4, pages 477–483 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Although high-speed all-optical switches are expected to replace their electrical counterparts in information processing, their relatively large size and power consumption have remained obstacles. We use a combination of an ultrasmall photonic-crystal nanocavity and strong carrier-induced nonlinearity in InGaAsP to successfully demonstrate low-energy switching within a few tens of picoseconds. Switching energies with a contrast of 3 and 10 dB of 0.42 and 0.66 fJ, respectively, have been obtained, which are over two orders of magnitude lower than those of previously reported all-optical switches. The ultrasmall cavity substantially enhances the nonlinearity as well as the recovery speed, and the switching efficiency is maximized by a combination of two-photon absorption and linear absorption in the InGaAsP nanocavities. These switches, with their chip-scale integratability, may lead to the possibility of low-power, high-density, all-optical processing in a chip.

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Figure 1: Photonic-crystal H0 nanocavity.
Figure 2: Carrier decay simulation results.
Figure 3: Material optimization for minimizing switching energy.
Figure 4: Switching dynamics of a photonic-crystal nanocavity acquired by pump–probe measurements.
Figure 5: Pulse extraction and removal from a signal train at 40 Gbps.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank A. Yokoo, E. Kuramochi, H. Sumikura and Y.G. Roh for fruitful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi, Kanagawa, 243-0198, Japan

    Kengo Nozaki, Takasumi Tanabe, Akihiko Shinya, Hideaki Taniyama & Masaya Notomi

  2. CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Honmachi, Kawaguchi, 332-0012, Japan

    Takasumi Tanabe, Akihiko Shinya, Hideaki Taniyama & Masaya Notomi

  3. NTT Photonics Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi, Kanagawa, 243-0198, Japan

    Shinji Matsuo & Tomonari Sato

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  1. Kengo Nozaki
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Contributions

K.N. performed the experiment, analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. T.T. and A.S. supported the measurement set-up and the discussion. S.M. and T.S. fabricated the sample. H.T. supported the FDTD calculation. M.N. supported the numerical calculation, partly wrote the manuscript and led the project.

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Correspondence to Kengo Nozaki or Masaya Notomi.

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Nozaki, K., Tanabe, T., Shinya, A. et al. Sub-femtojoule all-optical switching using a photonic-crystal nanocavity. Nature Photon 4, 477–483 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2010.89

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