Time-domain dynamics of reverse saturable absorbers with application to plasmon-enhanced optical limiters

An advanced full-wave time-domain numerical model for reverse saturable absorption (RSA) is presented and verified. Rate equations describing atomic relaxations and excitation dynamics are coupled to the Maxwell equations by using a Lorentzian oscillator, which models the kinetics-dependent light–matter interactions. The presented novel technique provides a versatile multiphysics framework for designing complex structures and integrating diverse material models that were not previously possible. The multiphysics framework allows capturing the behavior of the RSA materials embedded in artificial photonic nanostructures that cannot be analyzed with established techniques such as the Beer–Lambert law. To showcase the importance of the full-wave RSA analysis coupled to carrier kinetics, we analyze two plasmon-enhanced optical limiters: a metal grating and a Fabry–Perot cavity-like structure where we decrease the unenhanced limiter threshold by a factor of 3 and 13, respectively. This is a promising approach for developing RSA devices operating at reduced illumination levels and thereby significantly expanding their area of applicability to areas such as protective eyewear and automatically dimmed windows. By exploring the dynamic behavior of a given RSA system, this framework will provide critical insights into the design of transformative photonic devices and their complementary optical characterization, and serve as an invaluable utility for guiding the development of synthetic absorbing materials. We believe that our multiphysics models are crucial enabling tools that lay a necessary foundation for the numerical machinery required for the realization and optimization of optical limiting and all-optical switching systems.