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

2024/12/18 by Huatian Hu, Hu, Huatian, Gonzalo Álvarez‐Pérez +9
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #FOS: Physical sciences #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2412.14082

openalex publication_date 2024/12/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

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 μW 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.

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