Photonic switching in InAs/InP quantum dots

Author

Haverkort, J.E.M. ; Prasanth, R. ; Dilna, S. ; Bogaart, E.W. ; van der Tol, J.J.G.M. ; Patent, E.A. ; Zhao, G. ; Gong, Q. ; van Veldhoven, P.J. ; Nötzel, R. ; Wolter, J.H.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Eindhoven Univ. of Technol., Netherlands

fYear

2004

fDate

16-19 Aug. 2004

Firstpage

86

Lastpage

88

Abstract

We report all-optical switching due to state-filling in quantum dots (QDs). The switching energy is as low as 6 fJ since state-filling requires only 2 electron-hole pairs per QD. The single layer of InAs/InP QDs is inserted within a InGaAsP/InP waveguide which are processed into a Mach-Zehnder interferometric switch (MZI). A 1530-1570 nm probe beam is switched by optical excitation of one MZI-arm from above. By exciting below the InGaAsP bandgap, we prove that the refractive index nonlinearity is entirely due to state-filling in the QDs.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; energy gap; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; nonlinear optics; optical switches; optical waveguides; photoluminescence; refractive index; semiconductor quantum dots; 1530 to 1570 nm; 6 fJ; InAs-InGaAsP-InP; InAs-InP QD state filling; InAs-InP quantum dot state filling; InGaAsP bandgap; InGaAsP-InP waveguide; Mach-Zehnder interferometric switch; electron-hole pairs; optical excitation; optical probe beam; optical switching; photonic switching energy; refractive index nonlinearity; Indium phosphide; Optical interferometry; Optical refraction; Optical switches; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Photonic band gap; Probes; Quantum dots; Refractive index;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nanotechnology, 2004. 4th IEEE Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8536-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NANO.2004.1392258

Filename

1392258