All-optical octave-broad ultrafast switching of Si woodpile photonic band gap crystals

Abstract

We present ultrafast all-optical switching measurements of Si woodpile photonic band gap crystals. The crystals are spatially homogeneously excited, and probed by measuring reflectivity over an octave in frequency (including the telecom range) as a function of time. After 300 fs, the complete stop band has shifted to higher frequencies as a result of optically excited free carriers. The switched state relaxes quickly with a time constant of 18 ps. We present a quantitative analysis of switched spectra with theory for finite photonic crystals. The induced changes in refractive index are well described by a Drude model with a carrier relaxation time of 10 fs. We briefly discuss possible applications of high-repetition rate switching of photonic crystal cavities.

References in corpus (3)

• Spatial homogeneity of optically switched semiconductor photonic crystals and of bulk semiconductors
• Dynamical ultrafast all-optical switching of planar GaAs/AlAs photonic microcavities
• Ultrafast optical switching of three-dimensional Si inverse opal photonic band gap crystals

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Identification of competing ultrafast all-optical switching mechanisms in Si woodpile photonic crystals
• Kerr and free-carrier ultrafast all-optical switching of GaAs/AlAs nanostructures near the three-photon edge of GaAs
• Ultrafast dephasing of light in strongly scattering GaP nanowires
• Time-resolved resonance and linewidth of an ultrafast switched GaAs/AlAs microcavity