Optical bistability in a one-dimensional photonic crystal resonator using a reverse-biased pn-junction

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates low-power optical bistability in a one-dimensional photonic crystal resonator with a reverse-biased pn-junction, leveraging Joule heating to reduce power thresholds and stabilize bistable behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using a reverse-biased pn-junction in a photonic crystal resonator to achieve low-power optical bistability with improved stability.

Findings

Low-power thermo-optical bistability achieved

Photocurrent reduces optical power threshold

Enhanced stability of bistable features

Abstract

Optical bistability provides a simple way to control light with light. We demonstrate low-power thermo-optical bistability caused by the Joule heating mechanism in a one-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) nanobeam resonator with a moderate quality factor (Q ~ 8900) with an embedded reverse-biased pn-junction. We show that the photocurrent induced by the linear absorption in this compact resonator considerably reduces the threshold optical power. The proposed approach substantially relaxes the requirements on the input optical power for achieving optical bistability and provides a reliable way to stabilize the bistable features of the device.