Related papers: Ultrafast all-optical switching using doped chromo…
Functional materials with high electrical conductivity and optical transmittance are vital for thermally tunable free-space photonic systems. Conventional transparent conductors such as graphene and indium tin oxide are limited by high…
Future quantum optical networks will require the ability to route entangled photons at high speeds, with minimal loss and added in-band noise, and---most importantly---without disturbing the photons' quantum state. Here we present an…
We demonstrate an all-optical switch that operates at ultra-low-light levels and exhibits several features necessary for use in optical switching networks. An input switching beam, wavelength $\lambda$, with an energy density of $10^{-2}$…
While optical technology provides the best solution for the transmission of information, optical logics still calls for qualitative new concepts to be explored. Exciton-polaritons are composite particles, resulting from the strong coupling…
Microwave-optical conversion is key to future networks of quantum devices, such as those based on superconducting technology. Conversion at the single quantum level requires strong nonlinearity, high bandwidth, and compatibility with a…
Transmission of light through an optically ultrathin metal film with a thickness comparable to its skin depth is significant. We demonstrate experimentally nearly-zero transmission of light through a film periodically modulated by a…
Atomically thin materials such as graphene are uniquely responsive to charge transfer from adjacent materials, making them ideal charge transport layers in phototransistor devices. Effective implementation of organic semiconductors as a…
All-optical magnetic switching promises ultrafast, high-resolution magnetisation control with the technological attraction of requiring no magnetic field. Existing all-optical switching schemes are driven by ultrafast transient effects,…
The much sought after optical transistor --the photonic counterpart of the electronic transistor-- is poised to become a central ingredient in the development of optical signal processing. The motivation for using photons rather than…
Ultrafast all-optical switching (AOS) is pivotal for advancing integrated photonic devices, from high-speed photonic information processing to next generation all-optical computing and communication networks. However, conventional nonlinear…
All-optical spin switching is a potential trailblazer for information storage and communication at an unprecedented fast rate and free of magnetic fields. However, the current wisdom is largely based on semiempirical models of effective…
We introduce a novel all-optical platform in multimode and multicore fibres. By using a low-power probe beam and a high-power counter-propagating control beam, we achieve advanced and dynamic control over light propagation within the…
We investigate conductance and conductance fluctuations of two transmembrane proteins, bacteriorhodopsin and proteorhodopsin, belonging to the family of protein light receptors. These proteins are widely diffused in aqueous environments,…
The ultrafast response of a high-reflectivity GaAs/AlAs Bragg mirror to optical pumping is investigated for all-optical switching applications. Both Kerr and free carrier nonlinearities are induced with 100 fs, 780 nm pulses with a fluence…
Fast modulation and switching of light at visible and near-infrared (vis-NIR) frequencies is of utmost importance for optical signal processing and sensing technologies. No fundamental limit appears to prevent us from designing…
Encoding information onto optical fields is the backbone of modern telecommunication networks. Optical fibers offer low loss transport and vast bandwidth compared to electrical cables, and are currently also replacing coaxial cables for…
A fundamental road block for all-optical information processing is the difficulty in realizing a silicon optical transistor with the ability to provide optical gain, input output isolation and buffer action. In this work, we demonstrate an…
We demonstrate a fiber-optical switch that is activated at tiny energies corresponding to few hundred optical photons per pulse. This is achieved by simultaneously confining both photons and a small laser-cooled ensemble of atoms inside the…
Reversible switching of the complex network dynamics of proteins is mimicked in selected network glasses and compacted small carbohydrate molecules. Protein transitions occur on long time scales ~ us -ms, evocative of the exponentially…
We used femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy to study the photoinduced change in reflectivity of thin films of the electron-doped cuprate La$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_4$ (LCCO) with dopings of x$=$0.08 (underdoped) and x$=$0.11 (optimally…