Corcoran, BillMonat, ChristellePudo, DominikEggleton, Benjamin J.Krauss, Thomas F.Moss, David J.O'Faolain, LiamPelusi, MarkWhite, Thomas2015-12-130146-9592http://hdl.handle.net/1885/79362We directly investigate both experimentally and numerically the influence of optical nonlinear loss dynamics on a silicon waveguide based all-optical device. The dynamics of these nonlinear losses are explored through the analysis of optical limiting of an amplitude distorted 10 Gbit/s signal in a slow-light silicon photonic crystal waveguide. As the frequency of the distortion approaches the free-carrier recombination rate, freecarrier absorption reaches a steady state, leaving two-photon absorption the dominant dynamic nonlinear loss. Our results highlight the importance of engineering the free-carrier lifetime in silicon waveguides for high speed all-optical processing applications.Keywords: 10-Gbit/s; All-optical device; All-optical processing; Carrier recombination; Free carrier absorption; Nonlinear loss; Optical limiting; Optical nonlinear; Photonic crystal waveguide; Silicon photonic crystals; Silicon waveguide; Steady state; Two-photon20102016-02-24