Tunable optical bistability based on Bloch surface waves in one-dimensional photonic crystal with graphene

Graphene possesses large nonlinear conductivity in terahertz region, which makes it a very promising material for nonlinear bistable devices. In this paper, we theoretically study the optical bistability (OB) of reflected beam in a multilayer structure with graphene embedded between the truncated layer and the substrate. The Bloch surface wave excited by the one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PC) coupling structure significantly enhances the local electric field near the nonlinear graphene, which provides a positive condition for the realization of low-threshold OB. Through parameter optimization, we obtain a threshold electric field with an incident electric field of 105 V/m levels. Furthermore, the influences of graphene’s Fermi energy and relaxation time, as well as those of the incidence angle, on the hysteretic behavior and the threshold of OB are clarified. This approach may provide a feasible scheme for the nonlinear optical bistable devices.