Photonic switching devices based on semiconductor nanostructures

Abstract

Focusing and guiding light into semiconductor nanostructures can deliver revolutionary concepts for photonic devices, which offer a practical pathway towards next-generation power-efficient optical networks. In this review, we consider the prospects for photonic switches using semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and photonic cavities which possess unique properties based on their low dimensionality. The optical nonlinearity of such photonic switches is theoretically analyzed by introducing the concept of a field enhancement factor. This approach reveals drastic improvement in both power-density and speed, which is able to overcome the limitations that have beset conventional photonic switches for decades. In addition, the overall power consumption is reduced due to the atom-like nature of QDs as well as the nano-scale footprint of photonic cavities. Based on this theoretical perspective, the current state-of-the-art of QD/cavity switches is reviewed in terms of various optical nonlinearity phenomena which have been utilized to demonstrate photonic switching. Emerging techniques, enabled by cavity nonlinear effects such as wavelength tuning, Purcell-factor tuning and plasmonic effects are also discussed.

26 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Cavity Optomechanics
• Linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy of a strongly-coupled microdisk-quantum dot system
• Giant Optical Non-linearity induced by a Single Two-Level System interacting with a Cavity in the Purcell Regime
• Dynamic modulation of photonic crystal nanocavities using gigahertz acoustic phonons
• Dynamic release of trapped light from an ultrahigh-Q nanocavity via adiabatic frequency tuning
• Optical nonlinearity for few-photon pulses on a quantum dot-pillar cavity device
• Tailoring optical nonlinearities via the Purcell effect
• Controlled coupling of photonic crystal cavities using photochromic tuning
• All-optical Switching of a Microcavity Repeated at Terahertz Rates
• Competition between electronic Kerr and free carrier effects in an ultimate-fast optically switched semiconductor microcavity

Cited by in corpus (4)

• An ultrafast reconfigurable nanophotonic switch using wavefront shaping of light in a nonlinear nanomaterial
• Type II InAs/GaAsSb Quantum Dots: Highly Tunable Exciton Geometry and Topology
• Optimal all-optical switching of a microcavity resonance in the telecom range using the electronic Kerr effect
• Amplifying Optical Signals with Discrete Solitons in Waveguide Arrays