Modulating Low-Power Threshold Optical Bistability by Electrically Reconfigurable Free-Electron Kerr Nonlinearity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a microscopic mechanism to electrically reconfigure Kerr nonlinearity in semiconductors, enabling tunable optical bistability with low power thresholds for advanced electro-optical applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel theory combining electrostatic and hydrodynamic models to electrically modulate Kerr nonlinearity and optical bistability thresholds in doped semiconductors.

Findings

Achieves tunable optical bistability thresholds over two orders of magnitude.

Demonstrates power thresholds as low as 10 μW through surface charge control.

Provides insights for active Kerr nonlinearity control and refractive index engineering.

Abstract

We propose a microscopic mechanism to electrically reconfigure the Kerr nonlinearity by modulating the concentration of free electrons in heavily doped semiconductors under a static bias. Our theory incorporates electrostatic and hydrodynamic frameworks to describe the electronic dynamics, demonstrating electrically tunable linear and nonlinear modulations. The power threshold of achieving optical bistability shows unprecedented tunability over two orders of magnitude, reaching values as low as 10 $\mu$W through surface charge control. These findings offer new insights into understanding and actively controlling Kerr nonlinearities, paving the way for efficient refractive index engineering as well as the development of advanced linear and nonlinear electro-optical modulators.