All optical, high contrast absorptive modulation in an asymmetric Fabry–Perot étalon

Abstract
We report a 27:1 switching contrast ratio with 2.5 mW of power in an asymmetric Fabry–Perot étalon. The modulation is achieved by optical saturation of the excitonic absorption profile of a 95 Å GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well structure grown on a high‐reflectivity dielectric stack mirror.