Photoluminescent logic gate controlled by the optical Kerr effect exhibited by porous silicon

• Photoluminescence and optical Kerr effect in porous silicon are presented.
• Nanosecond nonlinear measurements by a reflective two-wave interaction were performed.
• A photoluminescent logic gate controlled by optical Kerr effect is reported.

The magnitude of the third order optical susceptibility exhibited by porous silicon monolayers was measured by a non-degenerated vectorial two-wave interaction. Optical irradiations at 488 nm and 532 nm wavelengths were employed to carry out the nonlinear optical experiments. Compared to bulk silicon material, a noticeable enhancement in the third order nonlinear optical response was identified. Photoluminescence and photoconductive properties were evaluated for the two studied wavelengths. The photoluminescent logic gate function AND was experimentally demonstrated using as a control a reflective optical Kerr gate configuration. A perceptible contribution for the third order optical nonlinearities seems to be related to the optical Kerr effect originated by excited states population. A two-level model was considered in order to describe the observed optical behavior.