All-optical switching and nonlinear optical properties of HBT in ethanol solution

This paper demonstrates an all-optical switching model system comprising a single pulsed pump beam at 355 nm and a CW He-Ne signal beam at 632.8 nm with 2-（2＇-hydroxyphenyl）benzothiazole （HBT） in ethanol solution. The origins of the optical switching effect were discussed. By the study of nonlinear optical properties for HBT in ethanol solvent, this paper verified that the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer （ESIPT） effect of HBT and the thermal effect of solvent worked on quite different time scales and together induced the change of the refractive index of HBT solution, leading to the signal beam deflection. The results indicated that the HBT molecule could be an excellent candidate for high-speed and high-sensitive optical switching devices.

All-optical switchings of 3-hydroxyflavone in different solvents

3-hydroxyflavone （3-HF） is an organic molecule with an excited-stated intramolecular proton transfer （ESIPT） effect. All-optical switchings and beam deflections of 3-HF in three kinds of solvents （cyclohexane, ethanol and dimethyl sulfoxide） have been investigated by using the third-harmonic generation （355 nm） of a mode-locked Nd：YAG laser as a pump beam and a continuous-wave （cw） He-Ne laser （632.8 nm） as a probe beam. The nonlinear refractive indices of 3-HF in the three different solvents are determined by using the Z-scan technique under an ultraviolet （UV） pump beam at a wavelength of 355 nm. It has been found that the optical switching and beam deflection effects result from the change in refractive index of 3-HF under the irradiation of the pump beam. On the basis of the analyses of absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra, we conclude that the change in refractive index of 3-HF is due to not the thermal effect but the ESIPT effect of 3-HF under the pump beam. As the ESIPT is exceedingly fast, 3-HF might be an excellent candidate for high-speed optical switching.

First-Principles Study on Switching Performance and Spin Filtering Efficiency of Dimethyldihydropyrene/Cyclophanediene Single-Molecule Devices with Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon Electrodes

Moleculardeviceswith highswitchingperformance and/or the perfect spin filtering effect have always been the pursuit with the development of molecular electronics.Hereb,yusingthe 2001.0V nonequilibrium.Green's function method in combination with the density functionaltheory,the switching performance and spin filtering properties of dimethyldihydropyrene(DHP)/cyclophanediene(CPD)photoswitchable molecule connected by carbon atomic chains(CACs)to two zigzag graphene nanoribbon electrodes have been theoretically investigated.The results show that DHP is more conductive than CPD and therefore an evident switching effect is demonstrated,and the switching ratio(RON/OFF)can reach 4.5×103.It is further revealed that the RoON/OF of DHP/CPD closely depends on the length of CACs.More specifically,the RoN/OFF values of DHP/CPD with odd-numbered CACs are larger than those with even-numbered CACs.More interestingly,a high or even perfect spin filtering effect can be obtained in these investigated DHP/CPD single-molecule devices.Our study is helpful for future design of single-molecule switches and spin filters and provides a way to optimize their performance by means of varying the length of bridging CACs.

Valley switch effect in anα-T3 lattice-based superconducting interferometer

Dirac electrons possess a valley degree of freedom,which is currently under investigation as a potential information carrier.We propose an approach to generate and manipulate the valley-switching current(VSC)through Andreev reflection using an interferometer-based superconductor hybrid junction.The interferometer comprises a ring-shaped structure formed by topological kink states in the a-T3 lattice via carefully designed electrostatic potentials.Our results demonstrate the feasibility of achieving a fully polarized VSC in this device without contamination from cotunneling electrons sharing the same valley as the incident electron.Furthermore,we show that control over the fully polarized VSC can be achieved by applying a nonlocal gate voltage or modifying the global parameter a.The former alters the dynamic phase of electrons while the latter provides an a-dependent Berry phase,both directly influencing quantum interference and thereby affecting performance in terms of generating and manipulating VSC,crucial for advancements in valleytronics.

Enhancement of modulation depth of an all-optical switch using an azo dye-ethyl red film

The polymethyl methacrylate （PMMA） film doped with an azo dye ethyl-red （ER） film is employed to demonstrate the properties of an all-optical switch by its photoinduced dichroism and birefringence. We show how to enhance remarkably the modulation depth of all-optical switches almost to 100% by using two linear polarization beams： one beam is inclined at 45° with respect to the probing beam and serves as a pumping beam, and the other beam is perpendicular to the probing beam and used as an erasing beam. Furthermore, a maximum-to-minimum output intensity ratio of 2000：1 is achieved in experiment, which is very useful and important for optical storages and image displays.

Improvement of switching characteristics by substrate bias in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistors

A simple and effective approach to improve the switching characteristics of AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistors （HFETs） by applying a voltage bias on the substrate is presented. With the increase of the substrate bias, the OFF-state drain current is much reduced and the ON-state current keeps constant. Both the ON/OFF current ratio and the subthreshold swing are demonstrated to be greatly improved. With the thinned substrate, the improvement of the switching characteristics with the substrate bias is found to be even greater. The above improvements of the switching characteristics are attributed to the interaction between the substrate bias induced electrical field and the bulk traps in the GaN buffer layer, which reduces the conductivity of the GaN buffer layer.

Degradation Characteristics of Resistive Switching Memory Devices Correlated with Electric Field Induced Ion-Migration Effect of Anode

The electrode effect of resistive switching memory devices on resistive switching behaviors is studied.Compared to TiN-or Ti-electrode devices,significantly reduced switching parameters such as resistance-ratio of high-and low-resistance states and set-voltage are observed experimentally in the Al-electrode devices when a positive voltage bias is applied to the Al-electrode during the forming process.An electric-field induced metal-ion-migration effect is proposed to elucidate the observed electrode dependence of the resistive switching behaviors in the resistive switching memory devices.The further measured data identify the validity of the proposed mechanism.

Broad-Band All-Optical Wavelength Conversion of Differential Phase-Shift Keyed Signal Using an SOA-Based Nonlinear Polarization Switch

Broad-band all-optical wavelength conversion of differential phase-shift keyed （DPSK） signal is experimentally demonstrated. This scheme is composed of a one-bit delay interferometer demodulation stage followed by a semiconductor optical amplifier （SOA） based nonlinear polarization switch. A wavelength converter for the 10 G b/s DPSK signal is presented, which has a wide wavelength range of more than 30 nm. The converted signals experience small power penalties less than 1.4 dB compared with the original signal, at a bit error rate of 10-9. Additionally, the optical spectra, the measured waveforms and the open eye diagrams of the converted signals show a high quality wavelength conversion performance.

Switching effects in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor graphene junctions

The Josephson effect in the superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor （SFS） graphene Josephson junction is studied using the Dirac Bogoliubov-de Gennes （DBdG） formalism. It is shown that the SFS graphene junction drives 0–π transition with the increasing of p=h0L/vF？, which captures the effects of both the exchange field and the length of the junction; the spin-down current is dominant. The 0 state is stable for p 〈 pc （critical value pc ≈ 0.80） and the π state is stable for p 〉 pc, where the free energy minima are at φg=0 and φg=π, respectively. The coexistence of the 0 and π states appears in the vicinity of pc.

Effects of Film Thickness and Ar/O2 Ratio on Resistive Switching Characteristics of HfOx-Based Resistive-Switching Random Access Memories

Cu/HfOx/n^＋Si devices are fabricated to investigate the influence of technological parameters including film thickness and Ar/02 ratio on the resistive switching （RS） characteristics of HfOx films, in terms of switch ratio, endurance properties, retention time and multilevel storage. It is revealed that the RS characteristics show strong dependence on technological parameters mainly by altering the defects （oxygen vacancies） in the film. The sample with thickness of 2Onto and Ar/O2 ratio of 12：3 exhibits the best RS behavior with the potential of multilevel storage. The conduction mechanism of all the films is interpreted based on the filamentary model.

Thermal Effects and RF Power Handling of DC～5GHz MEMS Switch

A DC to 5GHz series MEMS switch is designed and fabricated for wireless communication applications,and thermal effect and power handling of the series switch are discussed.The switch is made on glass substrate,and gold platinum contact is used to get a stable and little insert loss.From DC to 5GHz,0 6dB insertion loss,30dB isolation,and 30μs delay are demonstrated.Thermal effect of the switch is tested in 85℃ and -55℃ atmosphere separately.From DC to 4GHz,the insert loss of the switch increases 0 2dB in 85℃ and 0 4dB in -55℃,while the isolation holds the same value as that in room temperature.To measure the power handling capability of the switch,we applied a continuous RF power increasing from 10dBm to 35 1dBm with the step of 1 0dBm across the switch at 4GHz.The switch keeps working and shows a decrease of the insert loss for 0 1～0 6dB.The maximum continuous power handling (35 1dBm,about 3 24W) is higer than the reported value of shunt switch (about 420mW),which implies series switches have much better power handling capability.

A 1×4 Polymeric Digital Optical Switch Based on the Thermo-Optic Effect

We present a 1 × 4 Y-branch digital optical switch in which S-bend variable optical attenuators are integrated. The S-bend waveguides, which are always introduced to connect the switch and the standard fiber array, are made use of and designed as variable optical attenuators. A compact device with low crosstalk and larger branching-angle is obtained. The device is fabricated on the thermo-optic polymer materials,and the performance of the device is measured. With an applied driving power of less than 200mW, the device has a low crosstalk of less than - 35dB at a wavelength of 1.55 μm.

Enhanced resistance switching stability of transparent ITO/TiO_2/ITO sandwiches

We report that fully transparent resistive random access memory （TRRAM） devices based on ITO/TiO2/ITO sandwich structure, which are prepared by the method of RF magnetron sputtering, exhibit excellent switching stability. In the visible region （400 800 nm in wavelength） the TRRAM device has a transmittance of more than 80%. The fabricated TRRAM device shows a bipolar resistance switching behaviour at low voltage, while the retention test and rewrite cycles of more than 300,000 indicate the enhancement of switching capability. The mechanism of resistance switching is further explained by the forming and rupture processes of the filament in the TiO2 layer with the help of more oxygen vacancies which are provided by the transparent ITO electrodes.

Optical simulation of in-plane-switching blue phase liquid crystal display using the finite-difference time-domain method

The finite-difference time-domain method is used to simulate the optical characteristics of an in-plane switching blue phase liquid crystal display.Compared with the matrix optic methods and the refractive method,the finite-difference timedomain method,which is used to directly solve Maxwell＇s equations,can consider the lateral variation of the refractive index and obtain an accurate convergence effect.The simulation results show that e-rays and o-rays bend in different directions when the in-plane switching blue phase liquid crystal display is driven by the operating voltage.The finitedifference time-domain method should be used when the distribution of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal display has a large lateral change.

Skin Effect of Reversely Switched Dynistor in Short Pulse Discharge Application

The skin effect in the reversely switched dynistor （RSD） devices is investigated in this paper. Based on the plasma bipolar drift model of the RSD, the current density distributions on the chip are simulated with considering the skin effect. The results indicate that the current density on the border can be several hundred to a thousand A/cm2 higher than that in the center of the chip. The skin effect becomes more prominent as the voltage increases and the inductance decreases in the main circuit. The phenomenon that most of a certain group of chips break over on the border has proved the existence of the skin effect.

The nonlocal transport and switch effect in light-and electric-controlled silicene–superconductor hybrid structure

We theoretically investigate the influence of off-resonant circularly polarized light field and perpendicular electric field on the quantum transport in a monolayer silicene-based normal/superconducting/normal junction.Owing to the tunable band structure of silicene,a pure crossed Andreev reflection process can be realized under the optical and electrical coaction.Moreover,a switch effect among the exclusive crossed Andreev reflection,the exclusive elastic cotunneling and the exclusive Andreev reflection,where the former two are the nonlocal transports and the third one is the local transport,can be obtained in our system by the modulation of the electric and light fields.In addition,the influence of the relevant parameters on the nonlocal and local transports is calculated and analyzed as well.

Novel Scheme of All-optical AND Gate Based on Fabry-Perot Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

A novel scheme of all-optical AND gate based on a Fabry-Perot semiconductor optical amplifier(FP-SOA) is proposed and its feasibility is verified by simulation. Using this scheme, all-optical AND gate can be realized with the extinction ratio of 10 dB. The influence of pulse interval and pulse width on the extinction ratio is also investigated.

An all-optical buffer based on polarization rotation in an EAM

A theoretical model of the refractive index changes of the TE and TM modes in an electro-absorption modulator （EAM） is deduced. The photon absorption and refractive index changes are analyzed numerically. The influence of pump intensity on the phase difference between the TE and TM modes is studied. The polarization rotation effect is obtained in the EAM, and a novel all-optical fiber loop buffer is designed.

Orbital torque of Cr-induced magnetization switching in perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co/Pt/Cr heterostructures

The spin–orbit torque via the spin Hall effect of heavy metals has shown promising prospect in driving the magnetization switching in spintronic devices due to the generated spin current from heavy metals.Recently,the 3d-light metals have been predicted the ability to generate orbital current and the associated orbital torques from the orbital Hall effect.However,few experiments have been carried out since it is quite hard to directly detect the orbital current-generated orbital torque.Here,we report an effective method to demonstrate the strong orbital torques in light metal Cr through a conversion process from orbital current to spin current by introducing the Pt interfacial layer in perpendicularly magnetized symmetric Pt/Co/Pt structures.A quite large and monotonically growth of orbital torque efficiency in Pt/Co/Pt/Cr with the increase of the thickness of Cr layer is obtained with the largest effective orbital torque efficiency around 2.6 Oe/(MA·cm^(-2))(1 Oe=79.5775 A·m^(-1)).The ability of orbital torque to drive the magnetization switching is also reported with the critical switching current density down to the order of 106A·cm^(-2).Our findings prove the efficiency for switching the magnetization from light metal Cr layers through the orbital Hall effect.

All-Optical Cryptographic Device for Secure Communication

An all-optical cryptographic device for secure communication, based on the properties of soliton beams, is presented. It can encode a given bit stream of optical pulses, changing their phase and their amplitude as a function of an encryption serial key that merge with the data stream, generating a ciphered stream. The greatest advantage of the device is real-time encrypting – data can be transmitted at the original speed without slowing down.