Lenz G, Zimmermann J, Katsufuji T, Lines M E, Hwang H Y, Spälter S, Slusher R E, Cheong S W, Sanghera J S, Aggarwal I D
Opt Lett. 2000 Feb 15;25(4):254-6. doi: 10.1364/ol.25.000254.
High-speed optical communication requires ultrafast all-optical processing and switching capabilities. The Kerr nonlinearity, an ultrafast optical nonlinearity, is often used as the basic switching mechanism. A practical, small device that can be switched with ~1-pJ energies requires a large Kerr effect with minimal losses (both linear and nonlinear). We have investigated theoretically and experimentally a number of Se-based chalcogenide glasses. We have found a number of compounds with a Kerr nonlinearity hundreds of times larger than silica, making them excellent candidates for ultrafast all-optical devices.
