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arXiv · 1102.3351

Ultimate fast optical switching of a planar microcavity in the telecom wavelength range

Georgios Ctistis·Emre Yüce·Alex Hartsuiker·Julien Claudon·Maela Bazin·Jean-Michel Gérard·Willem L. Vos
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Abstract

We have studied a GaAs-AlAs planar microcavity with a resonance near 1300 nm in the telecom range by ultrafast pump-probe reflectivity. By the judicious choice of pump frequency, we observe a ultimate fast and reversible decrease of the resonance frequency by more than half a linewidth due to the instantaneous electronic Kerr effect. The switch-on and switch-off? of the cavity is only limited by the cavity storage time of ?tcav = 0.3ps and not by intrinsic material parameters. Our results pave the way to supra-THz switching rates for on-chip data modulation and real-time cavity quantum electrodynamics.

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Georgios Ctistis, Emre Yüce, Alex Hartsuiker, Julien Claudon, Maela Bazin, Jean-Michel Gérard, Willem L. Vos. 2011-02-16. Ultimate fast optical switching of a planar microcavity in the telecom wavelength range. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3580615

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