Energy scaling and subnanosecond switching of symmetric self-electrooptic effect devices

The authors report the scaling of switching energy with device area for four sizes of symmetric self-electrooptic effect devices, the smallest of which has a switching energy of 3.6 pJ. Switching speeds of approximately 2 ns at 15 V bias and approximately 860 ps at 22 V bias were attained by using mode-locked (6 ps) pulses, although the energies in these pulses were somewhat higher, because of saturation of the quantum-well material. Making the device area only moderately larger than the spot size is suggested as a method of avoiding this saturation.<>