Steplike Transmission of Light through a Metal-Dielectric Multilayer Structure due to an Intensity-Dependent Sign of the Effective Dielectric Constant

A. Husakou and J. Herrmann
Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 127402 – Published 19 September 2007

Abstract

We numerically study light propagation through a specially designed nonlinear nanoscale metal-dielectric multilayer structure with a linear effective dielectric constant just below zero. The calculated dependence of the output intensity on the input intensity shows a steplike behavior. It rests upon an intensity-dependent change of the effective dielectric constant from negative (low-transmission state) to positive (high-transmission state) values, corresponding to a transition of the optical properties from metalliclike to dielectriclike. The study of the transient behavior of the structure demonstrates a switching time of around 1 ps.

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  • Received 9 February 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.127402

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Husakou* and J. Herrmann

  • Max Born Institute of Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, Max Born Strasse 2a, D-12489 Berlin, Germany

  • *gusakov@mbi-berlin.de

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Issue

Vol. 99, Iss. 12 — 21 September 2007

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