INVESTIGATION OF LOW-POWER ALL-OPTICAL BISTABILITY IN AN INGAAS-INALAS SUPERLATTICE

We report investigations of optical transmission bistability in an unp rocessed InGaAs-InAlAs superlattice p-i-n structure acting as a wirele ss self-electro-optical effect device (SEED). We have observed and com pared optical and electrical bistabilities, and examined the time depe ndence. The switching energy turns out to be as small as 2 fJ mu m(-2) , which compares favourably with the performance of conventional silic on MOSFETs. Modeling shows that the observed hysteresis loop results f rom the combination of negative electro-absorption and built-in negati ve dynamic resistance (NDR). We finally report the computation of all- optical bistability for a p-i-n structure inserted in a Fabry-Perot in terferometer.