SUB-PJ OPERATION OF BROAD-BAND ASYMMETRIC FABRY-PEROT ALL-OPTICAL GATE WITH COUPLED-CAVITY STRUCTURE

We report on all-optical gating characteristics of a novel low-tempera ture-grown asymmetric Fabry-Perot (AFP) device, in which improvement o f performance with respect to conventional AFP all-optical switches is achieved by a short and coupled cavity configuration. Sub-pJ (similar to 800 fJ) operation is realized with a high contrast ratio (> 10 dB) over a broad wavelength range (similar to 7 nm). Even for 250 fJ pump pulses, a contrast ratio of >6 dB is obtained over a 4 nm wavelength range. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.