Effect of frequency detuning on pulse propagation in one-dimensional photonic crystal with a dense resonant medium: application to optical logic

TL;DR

This paper investigates how frequency detuning affects pulse propagation in dense photonic crystals with a two-level medium, proposing optical logic gates based on pulse interactions and detuning effects.

Contribution

It introduces a method to implement optical logic gates using pulse interactions in nonlinear photonic crystals, highlighting the role of frequency detuning in ultrafast AND gate operation.

Findings

Frequency detuning reduces pulse compression and dispersion compensation.

Ultrafast AND gate requires frequency detuning.

OR and NOT gates can operate without detuning.

Abstract

We consider propagation of light pulses detuned from the atomic resonance in a dense two-level medium and photonic structures with it. The large density of the medium is important to decrease spatial scale of such nonlinear effects as pulse compression, though it does not provide any fundamentally new phenomena as compared to dilute media. Frequency detuning decreases the effectivity of such nonlinear phenomena as pulse compression and dispersion spreading compensation as well. We propose simple logic gates based on interaction between two pulses in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal. It turned out, that frequency detuning is necessary to obtain ultrafast AND gate, while OR and NOT gates can be realized in the system without detuning.