2nd Intenational Conference on Mathematical Sciences 2007 (ICoMS-2007)

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

MATRIX TRANSFER AND COUPLED MODE EQUATION FOR

NONLINEAR PHOTONIC BANDGAP AS OPTICAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING
Ayi Bahtiar and Irwan Ary Dharmawan
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Padjadjaran Bandung,
Jl. Raya Jatinangor km.21 Sumedang Jawa Barat, Indonesia
email : ayibahtiar@yahoo.com

Abstract. An all -optical switching device is a crucial component for developing high speed data transmission and
signal processing in telecommunication network. The device is based on nonlinear optical material, whose refractive
index depends on light intensity. Various concepts for all-optical switching devices have been studied; however as the
best of our knowledge, until now there is no purely optical switching devices have been realized. Recently, photonic
crystals have been considerable interest both theoretically and experimentally for switching devices. Due to the
practical reason, we studied one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal for all-optical switching devices. We use
transfer matrix method and nonlinear coupled mode equation to determine photonic bandgap and optical switching
process. We applied them to different structures: nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) and nonlinear photonic
crystals which has similar linear refractive index but has opposite sign of nonlinear refractive index. By using an
appropriate combination of refractive indices, it was found that the first structure can be used for all-optical switching
at telecommunication wavelength (1.55 m). The second structure can be used both for all -optical switching and
optical limiter at the wavelength of 1 m.

I. INTRODUCTION
All-optical switching and optical limiter are key elements for optical signal processing in high
speed telecommunication networks. All-optical switching is used for optical signal distribution that
transmitted by high bandwidth and high speed optical fibers, whereas optical limiter can be used to filter,
shape and multiplex optical signal and to limit the optical power. These devices are commonly based on
total internal reflection, self-focusing, self-defocusing, two-photon absorption and photorefractive. A
good and reliable of these devices must be fast respond, resistant to optical damage, not degrade if
subjected to the high-intensity light and stable in the working environment. Many concepts have been
proposed and studied for realizing these devices, such as nonlinear directional coupler, Mach-Zehnder
interferometer, Nonlinear X-switch [1], nonlinear microcavities [2] and nonlinear Bragg waveguide [3].
These devices are based on nonlinear optical materials whose refractive index depends on light incident
intensity:

n( I ) = n 0 n nl I

(1)

In order to realize all-optical switching and optical limiter devices, they need materials that possess high
nonlinear refractive index which is very difficult to be achieved by existing materials. Therefore, as the
best of our knowledge, until now there is no all-optical switching devices have been realized.
Recently, photonic crystals have been considerable interest both theoretically and experimentally.
Photonic crystals are periodically structured dielectric materials with different refractive indices,
generally possessing photonic band gaps (PBG): ranges of frequency in which light cannot propagate
through the structure [4, 5]. P hotonic crystals structure is expected to be a key for future photonic
devices. In this paper, we modeled all-optical switching and optical limiter devices rely upon onedimensional (1D) photonic crystals consisting nonlinear optical materials. These structures are basically
multilayer structures, which are easy to be fabricated into any desired substrate and integrated to the
other devices. We studied two different structures, i.e. nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) and
nonlinear photonic crystal composed of nonlinear optical materials with identical linear refractive index
but opposite sign of their nonlinear refractive ind ices.
We used matrix transfer method for determining PBG and nonlinear coupled mode equation for
studying electromagnetic field propagation within the structure as well as all-optical switching and
optical limiter mechanism. We analyzed the devices by varying parameters, as number of layers,
incident intensity, and the strenth of the nonlinear response of optically active materials.
II. THEORETICAL MODEL
The structure of photonic crystal is schematically shown in Fig. 1. It consist of periodically two
dielectric materials with refr active indices and thicknesses n1, d 1 and n2, d2, respectively. The period of
the structure is .

E
n1

n2

A 1(1)
B1(1)

C1(2)
D1(2)

0 d1

A 2(1)
B2(1)

=d1+d2

Figure 1. Structure of 1D photonic crystal with proparation direction z.

The refractive index of the structure can be expressed as :

n1 ; 0 < z < a
n( z ) =
n 2 ; a < z <

(2)

3.1. Matrix transfer method

We assume that the electromagnetic field E propagates to the right and to the left within the layer
with refractive index n1 has amplitudes of A1 and B1, respectively. Whereas the light within the layer of
n2 propagates with amplitudes of C 1 and D1, respectively. Therefore, the propagation of light in the
photonic crystal structure becomes [6]:

E( z ) = A1eik 1z + B1e ik1 z

(3)

E( z ) = C1e ik 2 (z d 1 ) + D1e ik 2 (z d1 )

Parameters k1 and k2 are called propagation constants (k1 = n1 and k 2 = n2). By applying boundary
conditions at z = d 1 and z =L, we obtain [6]:
k 2 ik1d
1 + e 1
A1 1
k1
=
B1 2 1 + k 2 eik1d1

k1

k
1 2 e ik1d1
k1

k 2 ik1d1
1 e
k1

C1
D
1

k 2 ik1d
1 + e 1
C1 1
k1
=
D1 2 1 + k 2 eik1d1

k1

k 2 ik1d1
1 e
k1

k 2 ik1d1
1 e
k1

A 2
B
2

(4)

By eliminating of (C 1, D1) matrix, we obtain :

A 2 M11
B = M
2 21

M 12 A1
M 22 B1

(5)

where the components of M are :

1 k
k
M (1,1) = e ik1d1 cos(k 2 d2 ) + i 2 + 1 sin( k 2d 2 )
2
k
k
2
1

1 k

k
M (1,2) = e ik1d1 i 2 1 sin( k 2d 2 )
2
k
k
2

(6)

1 k

k
M (2,1) = e ik1d1 i 2 1 sin( k 2d 2 )

2 k1 k2

1 k
k
M (2,2 ) = e ik1d1 cos(k 2d 2 ) i 2 + 1 sin( k 2d 2 )
2
k
k

1
2

The matrix of M is called matrix transfer of a unit cell. If the structure of photonic crystal consist
of N unit cell and the light comes from the left side of the structure and interacts within the structure
leads to waves which propagate to the right and to the left with amplitudes of t and r, respectively, then :

t

=

0

1
1 +
2
1
1
2

k0
k1
k0
k1

1
1
2
1
1 +
2

1
k 0

1 +
k1 N 2
M
1
k 0

1
k1
2

k2

k1
k2

k1

1
1
2
1
1 +
2

k2
k1
k2
k1

1
k2
1 +
2
k0

1 k2
1
k0
2

1
k
1 2
2
k 0
1
k
1 + 2
2
k 0

1



r

(7)

The transmitted light is then expressed by T = |t| 2.

3.2. Nonlinear coupled mode equation
Propagation of light process in 1D photonic crystal is governed by Maxwell equations. We
assume that no charge and electric current sources in the dielectric materials and no magnetic materials.
Therefore, the electromagnetic wave equation can be expressed by [4]:
d E 2
+ 2 n ( z )E = 0
2
dz
c
2

(8)

where c = 1 / 0 0 is the light velocity in vacuum and n(z) is the refractive index of the structure.
We studied two different structures, i.e. nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) and
nonlinear photonic crystal composed of nonlinear optical materials with identical linear refractive index
but opposite sign of their nonlinear refractive ind ices.
3.2.1. Nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector
Basically, the structure of nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) is equal to the structure
depicted in Fig. 1, but the layer-1 is made from nonlinear optical material, therefore the refractive index
of the structure becomes :
n( z) = n0 + n cos Gz + n nl E( z)

(9)

where n is the depth variation of the refractive index. S ubtitution of this equation into Eqn. (8) leads to
the wave equation :

d 2 E 2 2
2
2
+ 2 n 0 E(z) + 2n 0 n cos GzE ( z) + 2 2n 0 n nl E(z) E(z) = 0
2
dz
c
c

(10)

If the electric field and light intensityare defined, respectively, as :

E( z ) = Ae i z + Be iz
2

E( z ) = Ae

i z

+ Be

i z

)(A e

* i z

* i z

+Be

(11)

and by using slowly varying amplitude (SVA) approximation, equation (10) becomes :

dA
2
2

= n 2 k 0 A + 2 B A + Be 2 iz

dz

dA
2
2
2iz

i
= n 2 k 0 2 A + B B + Ae

dz
i

(12)

where n2k0 = and = n / 2c . Equation (12) is called nonlinear coupled mode equation. By using
definition :
A = A e i A ( z )

(13)

B = B e iB ( z)
( z ) = A ( z ) B (z )

and subsituting it into Eqn. (12), then by separating their real and imaginary parts, we obtain :
dA
dz
dB
dz

= B sin ;
= A sin ;

cos =

B
dA
2
2
= cos + A + 2 B A
dz
A

A
dB
2
2
= cos + B + 2 A B
dz
B

(14)

3
AB

The transmitted light is defined by :

2

T =A B

(15)

Substitution Eqn. (15) into Eqn. (14) leads to :

2

dA2

= 4 2 A 2 A 2 T 2
dz

) 1 3 A (A
2

2
T

(16)

By substituting the following definitions of x = 2z/L, |C|2 = 2/3 L, y = |A|2/|B|2 and I0 = |T|2 /|C|2 , where
L is the length of the photonic crystal structure and I0 is the normalized output light intensity to |T|2 into
Eqn. (16), we obtain :

dy
2
2
= (y I 0 ) (L ) y 4(y I 0 )y
dx

(17)

The solution of Eqn. (17) is a Jacobian elliptic equation :

y (x ) =

I0
x
1 + nd 2Q1 m
2
2

(18)

where
m=

(L )2
(I 0 + (L)2 )

(19)

Q = I 02 + (L)2

If the normalized input light intensity is defined by Ii = y (x = 0), then the relation between output
and input intensity is :

I0 =

2I i
1 + nd (2 Q m)

(20)

3.2.2. Photonic crystal with equal linear refractive index but opposite sign of nonlinear refractive
index
The structure of this 1D nonlinear photonic crystal consist of periodic dielectric materials with
refractive indices :

n1 = n 01 + n nl1 I
n 2 = n 02 n nl 2 I

(21)

where n01, nnl1 and n02, nnl2 are linear and nonlinear refractive indices of layer-1 and layer-2, respectively.
In order to obtain an analytical expression for the evolution of forward and backward propagating light
inside the structure, we use the nonlinear coupled mode equation by defining A1 (z) and A2(z) are
amplitudes of the forward and backward propagating light and also by assuming that absorption of the
materials are neglected [7]:
d

sin 2
2n 0 2
dA1 ( z)
d 2

= ( n 01 n 0 2 ) + (n nl1 n nl2 )I ( z) exp i

i
x A 2 ( z) exp i
z [n nl I( z) xA 1 ( z) ]

c
dz
c

sin 2

dA 2 ( z )
d 2
xA ( z) exp i 2 n 0 2 z + [n I ( z) xA ( z) ]
= ( n 01 n 0 2 ) + ( n nl1 n nl 2 ) I (z ) exp i
i

1
nl
2

c
dz
c

(22)

where n 0 =

n 01 d1 + n 0 2 d 2

and n nl =

n nl1 d 1 + n nl2 d 2

are the average linear and nonlinear refractive

indices of the structure, respectively. In this work, we assumed that n01 = n02 and nnl1 = nnl2, therefore,
the Eqn. (22) becomes :

[
[A (z )

]
2 n
+ A ( z) ]A ( z ) exp i
c

dA1 ( z )
2n nl
2 n 0 2
2
2
=
A 1 (z ) + A 2 ( z ) A 2 ( z ) exp i

z
dz
c

c
dA 2 ( z )
2 nnl
=
dz
c

(23)

The solution of Eqn. (23) is taken at resonance condition (2n0/c = 2/), by applying the boundary
conditions at the position z = L, where L is the length of the structure and A2(L) = 0, i.e. no radiation is
incident on the structure from the right and A1 (L) = A1out. By taking the squared modulus of A1out yield
the intensity of the forward propagating within the structure :

I( z ) = A1 (z )

4I n ( L z )
1 + cos out nl

n 0

I
=
out
4 I out n nl (L z )

2 cos
n 0

(24)

where I out = |A 1out |2 . The input light intensity is obtained at z = 0:

I in = I( z ) z =0 =

1
2

1
+ 1 I out
4I out
cos

(25)

with a = 2n0/Nnnl and N = 2L/ is number of layers. Equation (25) is a characteristic equation of optical
limiter.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector
We used the combination of linear refractive indices of layer-1 and layer-2 are 1.8 and 1.6,
respectively. The layer-1 is made from nonlinear optical material with nonlinear refractive index nnl =
2.2 x 10 -5 cm2/GW. We calculated the transmittance of the structure using matrix transfer [Eqn. (17)] by
varying light input intensity as shown in Fig. 2(a). The light intensity leads to the change of photonic
bandgap position to the longer wavelength. If we take the constant wavelength at 1.555 m, it is clear
that its transmission increases ~ 70% with the increase of light intensity as shown in Fig. 2(b). This
behaviour (change of transmittance from low to high with light intensity) is a characteristic of all- optical
switching device.
1
1 GW/cm

5 GW/cm

15 GW/cm

0.8

Transmittance

Transmittance

0.8

0.6

0.4
0.2

0
1.55

1.555

1.56

[micrometer]

(a)

1.565

0.6
0.4

0.2
0
0

10

15

Input intensity [GW/cm 2]

(b)

Figure 2. (a). Transmittance as function of wavelength with varying input light intensity, and (b). Transmittance of wavelength
1.555 m as function of input light intensity.

In order to study the effect of the depth variation of refractive index caused by the combination of
the change of nonlinear refractive index and the length of the structure (kL) on the switching behavior,
we applied Eqn. (20) and the results are shown in Fig. 3. The behavior of its switching is called optical
bistability. It is clear that optical bistability depends on the value of kL; it occurs on the large value of
kL. If the length of the structure is kept constant, the optical bistability occurs when the nonlinear
refractive index is increased.
Output intensity [GW/cm2]

2.5
2
1.5
1

L = 1.0
L = 2.0

0.5

L = 3.24

0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

Input intensity [GW/cm2]

Figure 3. Optical bistability for different value of k L

4.3. Photonic crystal with equal linear refractive index but opposite sign of nonlinear refractive
index
In this structure, the refractive indices of each layers are n1 = 1.5 + 0.01 I and n2 = 1.5 0.01 I.
The thicknesses of the layers are given the values corresponding to a quarter wave structure for a
wavelength of 1 m and refractive index of n0 = 1.5 (d1 = d2 = 0.1667 m). Transmittance of the
structure for various numbers of layers with very low input intensity (0.5 GW/cm2) is shown in Fig. 4.
For low numbers of layers, no photonic bandgap is observed. The PBG get deeper and sharper with the
increase numbers of layers due to the large numbers interaction of waves which are reflected and
transmitted at each interface.
1
0.9

Transmittance

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3

N = 10

0.2

N = 200

0.1

N = 600

0.985

0.99

0.995

1.005

[micrometer]

1.01

1.015

Figure 4. Evolution of transmittance spectra of the structure with n0 = 1.5 and |nn l| = 0.01 cm 2/GW for different numbers of layers.
The input light intensity is 0.5 GW/cm 2.

To study the potential of this structure for all-optical switching device, we plot in Fig. 5(a) the
transmittance spectra of this structure with 200 layers for three different values of input intensities, i.e.
0.5 , 1.0 and 1.5 GW/cm2. The width and depth of the PBG are increased with the increase value of the
input light intensity. The solid vertical line indicates the change of transmission at the wavelength of
0.995 m with different input intensity. Its transmittance decreases allmost 100% (all-optical switching)
when the input intensity is increased from 0.5 GW/cm2 to 1.5 GW/cm2, as shown in Fig. 5(b). This
behaviour is caused by the increase of different of refractive index n = n1 - n2. Therefore, the width of
the bandgap also increases as n/n = /.

= 0.995 m

1.0

Transmittance

Transmittance

0.8

0.6

0.4
0.5 GW/cm2
0.2

0.6
0.4
0.2

1.0 GW/cm2
1.5 GW/cm2

0
0.98

0.8

0.0

0.99

[micrometer]

1.01

1.02

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

Input intensity [GW/cm ]

(b)

(a)

Figure 5. (a). Evolution of transmittance spectra of the structure with 200 layers for three different input intensity.
(b). Transmission changes of the wavelength of 0.995 m as the input intensity increases.

We also plot the relation between output and input light intensity in Fig. 6(a) for different values
of number of layers. For very low incident intensity the transmitted intensity is equal to the incident
intensity. As the input intensity is increased, the output intensity begins to saturate at the limiting value.
This value is the most desired for optical limiter, i.e. a device to maintain the low output intensity for the
large input intensity. The limiting value is then called as limiter intensity which is decreased with the
increase numbers of layers and the increase of nonlinear refractive index value as shown in Fig. 6(b).
N = 300

1.2

nnl = 0.01 cm /GW

1.0

nnl = 0.02 cm /GW

Limiter intensity [GW/cm ]

Output intensity [GW/cm2]

0.4

0.3

N = 500
0.2

N = 1000
0.1

Input intensity [GW/cm ]

(a)

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Number of layers [N]

(b)

Figure 6. Output intensity as a function of input intensity for the structure (a) with numbers of layers 300, 500 and 100 layers,
(b) with nonlinear refractive index of 0.01 cm2 /GW and 0.02 cm2 /GW.

V. CONCLUSION
We studied two structures of 1D nonlinear photonic crystals for all-optical switching and optical
limiter devices, i.e. nonlinear Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) and nonlinear photonic crystal
composed of nonlinear optical materials with identical linear refractive index but opposite sign of their
nonlinear refractive index. We concluded that an appropriate combination of refractive indices of two
materials, the position of PBG can be tuned. The first structure can be used for all- optical switching at
the widely used telecommunication wavelength (1.55 m) and the last once might be used both for alloptical switching and optical limiter devices. The limiter intensity is reduced with the increase of number
of layers (N) and the magnitude of nonlinear refractive index of the layers (nnl).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank to K. Andyahsari, D. R. Lestari and P. K. Nagara for helping this research. We also
thank to Technological and Professional Skills Development Sector Project (TPSDP) Directoral General
of Higher Education (DIKTI) for funding this research through Research Grant Project TPSDP Batch III,
ADB Loan No. 1792-INO.

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