Optical bistability based on surface plasmon coupled between a noble metal film and a metal grating involving Kerr materials

A phenomenon about optical bistability is successfully investigated in a layered structure consisting of a silver film with Kerr medium and a silver grating sandwiched between semi-infinite linear dielectrics. This type of structure can lead to the optical bistability phenomena occurring in reflection and transmission. There exists an optimal thickness of the metal grating that can cut off the effect of the near-field enhancement and may have the lowest effect on conversion from surface plasmon to light. This structure can realize the functions of the beam splitter and the polarization splitter and will be essential for future classical and quantum information processing.