An investigation of semiconductor nanoparticles for application to all-optical switching

A practical all-optical switch is necessary to alleviate electronic bottlenecks in fibre optic networks. Thus, a new all-optical switch is introduced here-exhibiting femtojoule switching energies and femtosecond switching times. The all-optical switches use 40 mu m dielectric spheres to direct high-intensity photonic nanojets into peripheral coatings of semiconductor nanoparticles. Semiconductor nanoparticle coatings of Si, CdTe, InP, and CuO are studied and found to yield switching energies of approximately 1 pJ, 500 fJ, 400 fJ, and 300 fJ with switching times of 2 ps, 2.3 ps, 900 fs, and 350 fs, respectively.