A study of thermally-induced optical bistability and the role of surface treatments in Si-based mid-infrared photonic crystal cavities

We report the observation of optical bistability in Si-based photonic crystal cavities operating around 4.5 μm. Time domain measurements indicate that the source of this optical bistability is thermal, with a time constant on the order of 5 μs. Quality (Q) factor improvement is shown by the use of surface treatments (wet processes and annealing), resulting in an increase of Q-factor from 11,500 to 29,300 at 4.48 μm. After annealing in a N2 environment, optical bistability is no longer seen in our cavities. References and links 1. L. D. Haret, T. Tanabe, E. Kuramochi, and M. Notomi, "Extremely low power optical bistability in silicon demonstrated using 1D photonic crystal nanocavity," Opt. Express 17, 21108-21117 (2009) http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-17-23-21108. 2. M. Notomi, A. Shinya, S. Mitsugi, G. Kira, E. Kuramochi, and T. Tanabe, "Optical bistable switching action of Si high-Q photonic-crystal nanocavities," Opt. 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