All-optical modulation of laser light in amorphous silicon-filled microstructured optical fibers

Abstract
Amorphous silicon is deposited within optical fibers by a high pressure microfluidic deposition process and characterized via Raman spectroscopy. All-optical modulation of 1.55μm light guided through the silicon core is demonstrated using the free carrier absorption generated by a 532nm pump pulse. Modulation depths of up to 8.26dB and modulation frequencies of up to 1.4MHz are demonstrated.