Enhanced nonlinear optical response of metal nanocomposite based photonic crystals

Abstract

We demonstrate enhanced nonlinear optical response from a one-dimensional metal nanocomposite based photonic crystal. A three-fold increase in the two photon absorption coefficient was observed for the photonic crystal structure when compared to a single layer of the metal nanocomposite having comparable metal content. The photonic crystal structure also shows a reduction in the optical limiting threshold by a factor of seven. The combination of metal nanoparticles with appropriately designed plasmon resonance in combination with photonic crystal structure provides an attractive approach for developing practical nonlinear optical devices with low thresholds and wide spectral bandwidth.