ABSTRACT
Ultrafast all-optical switching (AOS) is one of the most signicant challenges for photonics. Compared with the traditional electro-optical switching, AOS offers the advantage of an ultrafast time response. Ultrafast AOS has received considerable attention because of its promising potential applications in integrated photonic circuits, optical communication, and ultrafast information processing. It would be highly advantageous to have strong and nearly instantaneous interaction of light with light. In principle, this could be achieved by exploiting intrinsic material nonlinearities. Unfortunately, such nonlinearities are quite weak, so it is necessary to look for compromises in interaction time and/or power.
