New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Optomechanics: Swift light switching at the microscale

Date:
September 12, 2012
Source:
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Summary:
Faster signal storage and optical processing in nanomachined devices edge closer to realization, thanks to new research.
Share:
FULL STORY

Faster signal storage and optical processing in nanomachined devices edge closer to realization, thanks to new research.

A system that has only two possible stable states, such as a light switch, is called bistable by scientists and engineers. Bistability in microscale devices could pave the way to compact optical switching and memory elements. In the bistable systems found so far, however, switching between states takes too long to make the approach practical. Now, thanks to the recent observation of bistability in an array of micrometer-sized rings, fast microscale optical switches in novel photonic devices are a step closer to development.

Yefeng Yu of the A*STAR Data Storage Institute and his co-workers in Singapore and France observed this bistability in a device consisting of two 60-micrometer-wide silicon rings into which they could feed laser light of wavelengths specific to the particular ring geometry they used1. One segment of each ring hung above a gap, and these free-hanging arcs deformed slightly as light flowed through the ring. The deformation of the rings, in turn, changed their optical properties. As a result of this interplay between optical and mechanical forces, the researchers observed stable behavior at two wavelengths of the light; not at one, as expected. By changing the wavelength of the incoming light, Yu and co-workers could conveniently switch between these two states.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time that optical bistability has been induced by optical forces acting on mechanical motion," explains Yu. "Similar phenomena are usually produced by thermal effects." Relying on heating mechanisms, however, means that the typical times required to switch between the two stable states are relatively long, on the order of milliseconds. Using optical effects gave Yu and his co-workers a much faster means to control the switching process. "The switching time in our system is currently at the microsecond level," says Yu. "But there is some space for reducing this time through design optimization."

This thousand-fold acceleration should assist practical applications. The two stable states of the system, for example, can be used to encode information in terms of 'zeros' and 'ones', as it is in digital computers. But instead of using electrons to process information, the two states of Yu and his co-workers' optomechanical device should allow the representation of information.

"We envisage using our new system to implement optical logic gates for data processing," Yu says. But there may be many more possible uses for these devices. "Applications we want to explore include tunable lasers, biosensor and optomechanical memories."

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Data Storage Institute.


Story Source:

Materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Y. F. Yu, J. B. Zhang, T. Bourouina, A. Q. Liu. Optical-force-induced bistability in nanomachined ring resonator systems. Applied Physics Letters, 2012; 100 (9): 093108 DOI: 10.1063/1.3690955

Cite This Page:

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). "Optomechanics: Swift light switching at the microscale." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 September 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912093019.htm>.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). (2012, September 12). Optomechanics: Swift light switching at the microscale. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 12, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912093019.htm
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). "Optomechanics: Swift light switching at the microscale." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912093019.htm (accessed December 12, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES