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D. A. B. Miller, D. S. Chemla, T. C. Damen,
A. C. Gossard, W. Wiegmann, T. H. Wood and C. A. Burrus, "Novel Hybrid Optically
Bistable Switch: The Quantum Well Self Electro-Optic Effect Device" Appl. Phys. Lett.
45, 13-15 (1984). The authors report a new type of optoelectronic device,
a self-electro-optic effects device (SEED), which uses the same GaAs-GaAlAs multiple
quantum well material simultaneously as an optical detector and modulator. Using a series
resistor and constant voltage bias supply the SEED shows optical bistability (OB) of the
recently discovered type which relies on increasing absorption and requires no mirrors. OB
is seen at room temperature from approximately 850-860 nm, at powers as low as 670 nW or
switching times as short as 400 ns (limited only by power restrictions) with approximately
1-nJ optical switching energy in a 600- mu m-diam device. Total energies per unit area (
approximately 18 fJ/ mu m/sup 2/) are substantially lower than any previously reported for
OB
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