Optical nonlinearity in chalcogenide glasses for near-infrared all-optical devices

摘要

We consider tactics for attaining maximal optical nonlinearity at telecommunication wavelengths of 1.5 μm (h?ω ≈ 0.8 eV). The nonlinearity becomes greater in a material with a smaller optical gap, but it must be wider than ～1 eV for needed transparency. This trade-off makes the chalcogenide glass suitable for fiber devices (～1 m), including optical switches and intensity stabilizers. However, for waveguide devices with optical path lengths of ～1 cm, greater nonlinearity is required. We propose Se-loaded zeolites, which possess greater intensity-dependent nonlinear coefficients than those of pure Se by three orders of magnitude, is promising for this purpose.