Fano resonance control in a photonic crystal structure and its application to ultrafast switching

We experimentally demonstrate a photonic crystal structure that allows easy and robust control of the Fano spectrum. Its operation relies on controlling the amplitude of light propagating along one of the light paths in the structure from which the Fano resonance is obtained. Short-pulse dynamic measurements show that besides drastically increasing the switching contrast, the transmission dynamics itself is strongly affected by the nature of the resonance. The influence of slow-recovery tails implied by a long carrier lifetime can thus be reduced using a Fano resonance due to a hitherto unrecognized reshaping effect of the nonlinear Fano transfer function. As an example, we present a system application of a Fano structure, demonstrating its advantages by the experimental realization of 10 Gbit/s all-optical modulation with optical control power less than 1 mW