Asymmetric temporal profile of optical Kerr signal from GaAs/AlAs multilayer with λ/2 phase shift layer

Abstract

Abstract Optical Kerr response for a short‐input‐pulse of a GaAs/AlAs multilayer cavity which has a narrow cavity mode width was measured by an optical pump and probe technique. We observed a strong asymmetric temporal profile of the optical Kerr signal in the vicinity of Δ t = 0. The initial rising time of the signal was 1.0 ps for Δ t < 0, while the decay time was 0.25 ps for Δ t > 0. The asymmetric profile of the Kerr signal was analyzed with the pulse shapes of the pump and probe pulses in the cavity. We found that the decay of the Kerr signal for Δ t > 0 was faster than that of the profile explained by the pump and probe pulses. This suggests that the strong asymmetric profile of the Kerr signal was occurred by the strong phase shift due to the higher order term of the susceptibility. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)