[15p-F203-1~18] 17.1 Carbon nanotubes & other nanocarbon materials

▲ [15p-F203-2] Optical bistability in carbon nanotubes

〇(DC)Takushi Uda^1,2, Akihiro Ishii^1,2, Yuichiro K. Kato¹ (1.RIKEN, 2.U-Tokyo)

Keywords:nanotube, Spectroscopy, Optical bistability

Optical bistability refers to situations with two stable optical outputs for the same optical input, and it has been studied for applications involving all-optical switching and optical memories. Here we report on the observation of optical bistability in individual carbon nanotubes. Excitation power dependence of photoluminescence (PL) spectra taken with various energy detunings reveals that the bistability occurs due to simultaneous shifts of absorption and emission resonances. We also demonstrate reversible and reproducible optical switching, and perform time resolved measurements to obtain time scales of the operation. Our results open up new pathways for utilizing carbon nanotubes as an all-optical-switching medium at the nanoscale.