All-optical switching in metamaterial with high structural symmetry

Bistable response of nonlinear double-ring planar metamaterial

¹ Institute of Radio Astronomy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 4, Krasnoznamennaya St., Kharkiv 61002, Ukraine
² School of Radio Physics, Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4, Svobody Square, Kharkiv 61077, Ukraine

^a e-mail: vladimir.r.tuz@univer.kharkov.ua

Received: 11 April 2011
Revised: 14 July 2011
Accepted: 25 August 2011
Published online: 14 November 2011

Abstract

We argue the possibility of realization of a polarization-insensitive all-optical switching in a planar metamaterial composed of a 4-fold periodic array of two concentric metal rings placed on a substrate of nonlinear material. It is demonstrated that a switching may be achieved between essentially different values of transmission near the resonant frequency of the high-quality-factor Fano-shape trapped-mode excitation.