Ultrafast metamaterial all-optical switching based on coherent modulation

We report a demonstration of an ultrafast all-optical switching with unique light control effects. The all-optical switching consists of a gold film with asymmetric split rings and a silica substrate. The device effectively controls the transmission and absorption of continuous pulses in the communication band (1200-1800 nm) and short pulses with a pulse duration of 80 fs by using the interaction of two coherent beams on nano-metamaterials with a thickness of only 50 nm. The metamaterial can achieve more than 90 % output control under continuous light irradiation. When the pulse duration is 80 fs, the switching contrast ratio is greater than 3 : 1 and the modulation bandwidth is greater than 12.5 THz. Switching time can be on the order of femtosecond. This paper provides a new structure for ultra-high speed optical data processing components in coherent networks. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

We report a demonstration of an ultrafast all-optical switching with unique light control effects. The switching device effectively controls the transmission and absorption of continuous pulses and short pulses, achieving high output control and modulation bandwidth. This study provides a new structure for ultra-high speed optical data processing components in coherent networks.