All-optical nonlinear switching in GaAs-AlGaAs microring resonators

We demonstrate all-optical nonlinear switching in compact GaAs-AlGaAs microring resonators at the 1.55-μm wavelength. Switching is accomplished in the pump-and-probe configuration in which the pump-and-probe signals are tuned to different resonance wavelengths of the microring. Refractive index change in the microring due to free carriers generated by two photon absorption is used to switch the probe beam in and out of resonance. Measured transient responses of the pump and probe through the microring show good agreement with theoretical predictions based on nonlinear pump-probe interaction due to two photon absorption.