Optical bistability in subwavelength apertures containing nonlinear media

TL;DR

This paper presents a self-consistent method to analyze optical bistability in metallic gratings with nonlinear media, showing how large local fields induce drastic spectral changes and bistability at specific fluxes and wavelengths.

Contribution

A novel self-consistent approach to study optical responses in nonlinear metallic gratings with subwavelength apertures, revealing bistability phenomena.

Findings

Optical bistability occurs at specific flux and wavelength ranges.

Large local E-fields cause significant spectral shifts.

Method effectively captures nonlinear optical effects in nanostructures.

Abstract

We develop a self-consistent method to study the optical response of metallic gratings with nonlinear media embedded within their subwavelength slits. An optical Kerr nonlinearity is considered. Due to the large E-fields associated with the excitation of the transmission resonances appearing in this type of structures, moderate incoming fluxes result in drastic changes in the transmission spectra. Importantly, optical bistability is obtained for certain ranges of both flux and wavelength.