Ultrafast rerouting of light via slow modes in a nanophotonic directional coupler

We demonstrate that two coupled photonic-crystal waveguides can route two subsequently arriving light pulses to different output ports even though the pulses are only 3 ps apart. This rerouting of light is due to an ultrafast shift in the transmittance spectrum triggered by the generation of electro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2009-06, Vol.94 (24)
Main Authors: Kampfrath, T., Beggs, D. M., White, T. P., Burresi, M., van Oosten, D., Krauss, T. F., Kuipers, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We demonstrate that two coupled photonic-crystal waveguides can route two subsequently arriving light pulses to different output ports even though the pulses are only 3 ps apart. This rerouting of light is due to an ultrafast shift in the transmittance spectrum triggered by the generation of electrons and holes in the Si base material by a femtosecond laser pulse. The use of slow-light modes allows for a coupler length of only 5.2 μm. Since these modes are not directly involved, the 3 ps dead time is solely determined by the duration of the input pulse rather than its transit time through the device.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.3153989