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All-optical radio-frequency modulation of Anderson-localized modes

G. Arregui, D. Navarro-Urrios, N. Kehagias, C. M. Sotomayor Torres, and P. D. García
Phys. Rev. B 98, 180202(R) – Published 16 November 2018
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Abstract

All-optical modulation of light relies on exploiting intrinsic material nonlinearities [V. R. Almeida et al., Nature 431, 1081 (2004)]. However, this optical control is rather challenging due to the weak dependence of the refractive index and absorption coefficients on the concentration of free carriers in standard semiconductors [R. A. Soref and B. R. Bennett, Proc. SPIE 704, 32 (1987)]. To overcome this limitation, resonant structures with high spatial and spectral confinement are carefully designed to enhance the stored electromagnetic energy, thereby requiring lower excitation power to achieve significant nonlinear effects [K. Nozaki et al., Nat. Photonics 4, 477 (2010)]. Small mode-volume and high-quality (Q)-factor cavities also offer an efficient coherent control of the light field and the targeted optical properties. Here, we report on optical resonances reaching Q105 induced by disorder on photonic/phononic-crystal waveguides. At relatively low excitation powers (below 1mW), these cavities exhibit nonlinear effects leading to periodic (up to 35 MHz) oscillations of their resonant wavelength. Our system represents a test bed to study the interplay between structural complexity and material nonlinearities and their impact on localization phenomena and introduces a different functionality to the toolset of disordered photonics.

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  • Received 11 September 2018
  • Revised 25 October 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.180202

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalNonlinear Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

G. Arregui1,2, D. Navarro-Urrios1, N. Kehagias1, C. M. Sotomayor Torres1,3, and P. D. García1,*

  • 1Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
  • 2Departament de Física, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
  • 3ICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 18 — 1 November 2018

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