All-Optical Switching Based on Azo Polymer Material

Conventional all-optical switches based on azo polymer films and the all-optical switches based on the attenuated total reflection (ATR) geometry are investigated. A conventional switch system, including a pump beam of 532nm and a probe beam of 650nm, is based on the photoinduced birefringence effect of azo polymer. An ATR switch in a prism-multilayer configuration is achieved by changing the reflectance of the probe beam with an external pump beam. The ATR method provides the substantial improvement of the speed and the efficiency of the modulation over the conventional method. Although the azo polymer response still remains relatively slow, an enhanced nonlinear refractive index of the azo polymer film can effectively increase themodulation.