Ultrafast optical switch properties of single-wall carbon nanotube polymer composites at 1.55 /spl mu/m

Summary form only given. Ultrafast all-optical switches are crucial components for future high-bit-rate time-division-multiplexing optical communication systems or free-space optical-digital computing systems. So far, many types of ultrafast all-optical switches have been studied and demonstrated using optical nonlinearities in optical fibers and semiconductor materials. Here we report that single-walled carbon nanotube polyvinyl alcohol (SWCN-PVOH) polymer composites not only have a high third-order nonlinear polarizability but also have an optical decay time of less than 1 ps. Our SWCN-PVOH film sample was approximately 64 /spl mu/m thickness with a concentration of carbon nanotubes calculated to be /spl sim/0.4 wt.%. Time-resolved pump-probe experiments were used to demonstrate the switching properties of SWCN-PVOH composites. To determine the physical process of the decay time we have also performed an experiment with 10 /spl mu/J/cm/sup 2/ 0.78 /spl mu/m pump and 1.55 /spl mu/m probe.