Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Optically bistable materials respond to a single input with two possible optical outputs, contingent on excitation history. Such materials would be ideal for optical switching and memory, but the limited understanding of intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) prevents the development of nanoscale IOB materials suitable for devices. Here we demonstrate IOB in Nd3+-doped KPb2Cl5 avalanching nanoparticles, which switch with high contrast between luminescent and non-luminescent states, with hysteresis characteristic of bistability. We elucidate a non-thermal mechanism in which IOB originates from suppressed non-radiative relaxation in Nd3+ ions and from the positive feedback of photon avalanching, resulting in extreme, >200th-order optical nonlinearities. The modulation of laser pulsing tunes the hysteresis widths, and dual-laser excitation enables transistor-like optical switching. This control over nanoscale IOB establishes avalanching nanoparticles for photonic devices in which light is used to manipulate light.