Bistable behaviour of a photonic crystal nonlinear cavity

• Published in: Physica. B, Condensed matter Vol. 338; no. 1; pp. 171 - 177
• Main Authors: Lousse, Virginie, Vigneron, Jean Pol
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Band gap; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Multistability; Nonlinear; Nonlinear optics; Optical bistability; Optical bistability, multistability and switching, including local field effects; Optical bistability, multistability, and switching; Optical materials; Optics; Photonic bandgap materials; Physics; Switching; 42.65.−k; Multistability; Nonlinear; 42.70.Qs; 42.79.−e; 42.65.Pc; Band gap; 42.79.Ta; Optical bistability; Switching; 42.79.-e; 42.79.Ta Optical bistability; Photonic crystals; Theoretical study; One dimensional structure; Fabry-Perot resonators; Optical switching; Transfer matrix method; 42.65.-k; Nonlinear optics
• ISSN: 0921-4526; 1873-2135
• DOI: 10.1016/S0921-4526(03)00481-2

A Fabry–Pérot cavity can be closed by reflecting slabs made with different types of materials. An interesting situation occurs when the slabs are constructed from a photonic crystal in the nonpropagating regime, i.e. with an incident frequency tuned to an evanescent mode. The situation is even more interesting when the cavity itself contains a nonlinear Kerr medium, i.e. a material which changes its refractive index with the transiting intensity. The response of this system to high-intensity incident waves is studied in detail. It is shown that (1) the refractive index of the material which fills the cavity changes in a significant way as a function of the incident power; (2) in specific intensity ranges, the refractive index in the cavity is multi-valued, leading to a bistable behaviour of the Fabry–Pérot filter. The hysteresis cycle of the refractive index and of the transmission coefficient is described.