Optical bistable switching action of Si high-Q photonic-crystal nanocavities

We have demonstrated all-optical bistable switching operation of resonant-tunnelling devices with ultra-small high-Q Si photonic-crystal nanocavities. Due to their high Q/V ratio, the switching energy is extremely small in comparison with that of conventional devices using the same optical nonlinear mechanism. We also show that they exhibit all-optical-transistor action by using two resonant modes. These ultrasmall unique nonlinear bistable devices have potentials to function as various signal processing functions in photonic-crystal-based optical-circuits. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.