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Self-induced optical modulation of the transmission through a high-Q silicon microdisk resonator

2006; Optica Publishing Group; Volume: 14; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1364/opex.14.000817

1094-4087

Thomas J. Johnson, Matthew Borselli, Oskar Painter,

Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies

Direct time-domain observations are reported of a low-power, self-induced modulation of the transmitted optical power through a high-Q silicon microdisk resonator. Above a threshold input power of 60 microW the transmission versus wavelength deviates from a simple optical bistability behavior, and the transmission intensity becomes highly oscillatory in nature. The transmission oscillations are seen to consist of a train of sharp transmission dips of width approximately 100 ns and period close to 1 micros. A model of the system is developed incorporating thermal and free-carrier dynamics, and is compared to the observed behavior. Good agreement is found, and the self-induced optical modulation is attributed to a nonlinear interaction between competing free-carrier and phonon populations within the microdisk.