Light localization induced enhancement of third order nonlinearities in a GaAs photonic crystal waveguide

Alexandre Baron (1) , Aleksandr Ryasnyanskiy (1) , Nicolas Dubreuil (1) , Philippe Delaye (1) , Quynh Vy Tran (2) , Sylvain Combrié (2) , Alfredo de Rossi (2) , Robert Frey (1) , Gérald Roosen (1)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Manolia
2 Thales Research and Technology [Palaiseau]

Nonlinear propagation experiments in GaAs photonic crystal waveguides (PCW) were performed, which exhibit a large enhancement of third order nonlinearities, due to light propagation in a slow mode regime, such as two-photon absorption (TPA), optical Kerr effect and refractive index changes due to TPA generated free-carriers. A theoretical model has been established that shows very good quantitative agreement with experimental data and demonstrates the important role that group velocity plays. These observations give a strong insight into the use of PCWs for optical switching devices.

Keywords: Nonlinear optics; Photonic crystal waveguides; Kerr effect; Multiphoton processes; Nonlinear spectroscopy; Semiconductor materials

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Alexandre Baron, Aleksandr Ryasnyanskiy, Nicolas Dubreuil, Philippe Delaye, Quynh Vy Tran, et al.. Light localization induced enhancement of third order nonlinearities in a GaAs photonic crystal waveguide. Optics Express, 2009, 17 (2), pp.552-557. ⟨10.1364/OE.17.000552⟩. ⟨hal-00560953⟩