2 research outputs found
Optical switching by capillary condensation
Photonic materials, which have optical properties that can be
modulated by light, are extremely interesting both for their
fundamental properties as well as for their potential in the
applications of all-optical signal processing and possibly
optical computing. Earlier studies have been based on
nonlinear photonic crystals, and have required relatively high
local light intensities to be used. We propose a completely
different strategy based on the interplay between light
propagation and capillary condensation of gases in porous
photonic structures. We show experimentally that the local
light intensity can alter the gas/liquid phase equilibrium
inside the pores, which allows the refractive-index distribution
inside the material to be optically tuned. As a specific example,
we show how this feature can be used to obtain optical
bistability in porous superlattices. Our results provide a new
approach for achieving optical control in photonic systems