All-Optical Switching Demonstration using Two-Photon Absorption and the Classical Zeno Effect

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates low-contrast all-optical Zeno switching in a silicon nitride microdisk resonator using two-photon absorption and the classical Zeno effect, highlighting a potential for ultra-low power optical control.

Contribution

It introduces a novel all-optical switching scheme based on two-photon absorption and the classical Zeno effect in microresonators, with experimental validation.

Findings

Successful demonstration of Zeno switching in silicon nitride microdisk

Suppression of field build-up due to two-photon absorption

Potential for input power levels near 20 nW with resonant beams

Abstract

Low-contrast all-optical Zeno switching has been demonstrated in a silicon nitride microdisk resonator coupled to a hot atomic vapor. The device is based on the suppression of the field build-up within a microcavity due to non-degenerate two-photon absorption. This experiment used one beam in a resonator and one in free-space due to limitations related to device physics. These results suggest that a similar scheme with both beams resonant in the cavity would correspond to input power levels near 20 nW.