Ultrafast all-optical switching in the presence of Bloch surface waves

Abstract

Abstract It is commonly known that Bloch surface waves (BSW) can be excited at the photonic crystal/dielectric boundary that leads to many features attractive for application these states as the basis of sensors and nanophotonic devices. The narrow spectral-angular resonance of BSW is very sensitive to properties of top layer and surrounding medium. There are few ways to enhance nonlinear optical response of a top layer without violation of BSW excitation conditions. In this work we choose graphene monolayer as a source of strong nonlinearity with tiny thickness. We study temporal nonlinear optical response of graphene in the case of Bloch surface waves excitation revealing subpicosecond switching time of probe dynamics.