1.55-μm optical logic étalon with picojoule switching energy made of InGaAs/InP multiple quantum wells

Abstract

We have constructed all-optical logic étalons operating in the 1.55-μm wavelength region using InGaAs/InP multiple quantum well (MQW) structures. These étalons have low-energy requirements with several nanosecond recovery times, exhibit high on/off contrast (>20:1 if desired) with large on-state transmission (>40%), and have signal gain, thus making them possible to cascade. For example, we have performed gating using 6 pJ input energy with 5:1 contrast and gain about 2 at 100 MHz operating frequency. These étalons also show optical bistability. The nonlinear coefficients for the InGaAs/InP MQW’s deduced from experimental results are found to be on the same order as those for GaAs/GaAlAs MQW’s.