Optical switch that utilizes one-dimensional, nonlinear, multilayer dielectric stacks
US5740287A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 7, 1995 |
| Grant date | Apr 14, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 7, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/3511
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical switch in a one-dimensional multilayer dielectric stack having a photonic band gap, composed of at least two groups of layers of dielectric material whose operating wavelength is near the edge of said photonic band gap. At least one layer of each of the groups is composed of a nonlinear c.sub.3 dielectric material, which creates an intensity-dependent shift in the location of the band gap and produces a dynamical change in the transmissive and reflective properties of the multilayer dielectric stack in response to changes in the intensity of light or the transmittance of electromagnetic radiation passing through the multilayer dielectric stack. The width of the photonic band gap is determined by the differences between the refractive indices of the nonlinear dielectric material and that of the other layers of dielectric material in the multilayer dielectric stack.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.