The nonlinear optical properties of AlGaAs at the half band gap

Author

Aitchison, J.S. ; Hutchings, D.C. ; Kang, J.U. ; Stegeman, G.I. ; Villeneuve, A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Glasgow Univ., UK

Volume

33

Issue

3

fYear

1997

fDate

3/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

341

Lastpage

348

Abstract

We report experimental values for the nonlinear optical coefficients of AlGaAs, in the half-band-gap spectral region. The dispersion of the nonlinear refractive-index coefficient, n₂, is measured for both TE- and TM-polarized light. We observe n₂(TE)>n₂(TM) and a ratio of cross-phase modulation to self-phase modulation (TE) of ~0.95, as predicted from band structure calculations. The spectral dependence of the two- and three-photon absorption coefficients are also measured. Finally, the implications for all-optical switching and spatial soliton propagation are discussed

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; absorption coefficients; aluminium compounds; energy gap; gallium arsenide; multiphoton processes; nonlinear optical susceptibility; optical dispersion; optical modulation; optical solitons; optical switches; phase modulation; refractive index; two-photon processes; AlGaAs; TE-polarized light; TM-polarized light; all-optical switching; band structure calculations; cross-phase modulation; dispersion; half band gap; half-band-gap spectral region; nonlinear optical coefficients; nonlinear optical properties; nonlinear refractive-index coefficient; self-phase modulation; spatial soliton propagation; spectral dependence; three-photon absorption coefficients; two-photon absorption coefficients; Nonlinear optics; Optical materials; Optical propagation; Optical pulses; Optical refraction; Optical solitons; Photonic band gap; Pulse modulation; Semiconductor materials; Silicon compounds;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.556002

Filename

556002