Ultrafast all-optical switching in bacteriorhodopsin

All-optical switching has been demonstrated in bacteriorhodopsin based on excited-state nonlinear absorption. A probe laser beam at 640 nm corresponding to the O-state absorption maximum is switched due to a strong pulsed pump laser beam at 570 nm, that corresponds to the maximum ground state absorption. We have studied the effect of variation in pulse width and in small signal absorption coefficient on the switching characteristics. The switching time decreases as the pulse width of the pump beam decreases and the small signal absorption coefficient increases. The switching contrast depends mainly on the peak pumping intensity.