Ultralow power all-optical diode in photonic crystal heterostructures with broken spatial inversion symmetry

We experimentally realize an all-optical diode in a photonic crystal heterostructure with broken spatial inversion symmetry. The physical mechanism is attributed to bandgaps only for certain wavevectors and the transition between different electromagnetic Bloch modes, without any nonlinearity and high power requirement. An ultralow photon intensity of 50 kW/cm(2) and an ultrahigh transmission contrast of over 10(3) are reached simultaneously. Compared with previous reported all-optical diodes, the operating power is reduced by seven orders of magnitude, while the transmission contrast is enlarged by two orders of magnitude. This approach may open a way for the study of integrated photonic devices. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3617433]