All-Optical Switching With GaAlAs Waveguides Via The Novel Photo-Induced Franz-Keldysh Effect

Henning Fouckhardt; Karl Joachim Ebeling

doi:10.1117/12.941204

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22 September 1987 All-Optical Switching With GaAlAs Waveguides Via The Novel Photo-Induced Franz-Keldysh Effect

Henning Fouckhardt, Karl Joachim Ebeling

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Proceedings Volume 0800, Novel Optoelectronic Devices; (1987) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.941204
Event: Fourth International Symposium on Optical and Optoelectronic Applied Sciences and Engineering, 1987, The Hague, Netherlands

Abstract

Intensity transmission of GaAlAs strip waveguides embedded in unbiased pn-junctions shows a strong nonlinearity at submilliwatt power levels due to the so-called photo-induced Franz-Keldysh effect. It represents a combination of two well-known effects : the photo-voltaic effect in semiconductor pn-junctions and the common Franz-Keldysh effect. The nonlinearity is typical for bleachable absorption. First-order theory and experiment show good agreement. The effect is used for all-optical switching. The transmitted light power of a probe beam is switched by about 3 dB due to the influence of a control beam at input light power levels of about 0.5 mW each. The switching dynamics is limited by RC time constants.

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Henning Fouckhardt and Karl Joachim Ebeling "All-Optical Switching With GaAlAs Waveguides Via The Novel Photo-Induced Franz-Keldysh Effect", Proc. SPIE 0800, Novel Optoelectronic Devices, (22 September 1987); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.941204

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