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Polarization Dependence of Ultrafast Nonlinear Refraction in Semiconductors at the Half-Bandgap

D. C. Hutchings, J.S. Aitchison, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K., A. Villeneuve, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada, G.T. Kennedy, W. Sibbett, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, U.K., and J.U. Kang, G.I. Stegeman, University of Central Florida, CREOL, Orlando, Fla.

All-optical switching using half-bandgap non-linearities in semiconductors has received an increasing amount of attention. This is due to an increased understanding of the nonlinear optical mechanisms (in particular, AlGaAs at communication wavelengths has a relatively large nonlinear refraction coefficient—on the order 10^3 times larger than silica) and the maturing of fabrication technologies which allow development of efficient all-optical devices in the 1.55 μm telecommunications window.