Abstract

In recent years, much attention has been given to the all-optical nonlinear directional coupler (NLDC), where the transfer of optical power between two coupled channel waveguides is controlled by the power carried in the modes. One should use a physically realistic model for the nonlinearities of the waveguide material when designing optimized NLDCs. Previous designs assumed a Kerr nonlinearity in the core or cladding of the NLDC channel waveguides. In most Kerr media, high optical densities are required to control the output of the NLDC. However, semiconductor materials with resonant electronic nonlinearities exhibit the highest known nonthermal optical nonlinearities and show promise for all-optical device fabrication.

© 1987 Optical Society of America