Graphene has recently been shown to possess giant nonlinearity; however, the utility of this nonlinearity is limited due to high losses and small interaction volume. We show that by performing waveguide engineering to graphene's nonlinearity, we are able to dramatically increase the nonlinear parameter and decrease the switching optical power to sub-watt levels. Our design makes use of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide and careful manipulation of graphene's refractive index by tuning its Fermi level. The ability to tailor the nonlinear parameter in graphene based waveguides via the Fermi level provides a paradigm of nonlinear optics devices to be realized.
References
1.
K. S.
Novoselov
, V. I.
Fal'ko
, L.
Colombo
, P. R.
Gellert
, M. G.
Schwab
, and K.
Kim
, “A roadmap for graphene
,” Nature
490
, 192
–200
(2012
).2.
T.
Mueller
, F.
Xia
, and P.
Avouris
, “Graphene photodetectors for high-speed optical communications
,” Nat. Photonics
4
(5
), 297
–301
(2010
).3.
J. T.
Kim
, Y.-J.
Yu
, H.
Choi
, and C.-G.
Choi
, “Graphene-based plasmonic photodetector for photonic integrated circuits
,” Opt. Express
22
, 803
–808
(2014
).4.
J.
Gosciniak
and D. T. H.
Tan
, “Graphene-based waveguide integrated dielectric-loaded plasmonic electro-absorption modulators
,” Nanotechnology
24
, 185202
(2013
).5.
J.
Gosciniak
and D. T. H.
Tan
, “Theoretical investigation of graphene-based photonic modulators
,” Sci. Rep.
3
, 1897
(2013
).6.
K. J. A.
Ooi
, H. S.
Chu
, L. K.
Ang
, and P.
Bai
, “Mid-infrared active graphene nanoribbon plasmonic waveguide devices
,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B
30
, 3111
–3116
(2013
).7.
K. J. A.
Ooi
, H. S.
Chu
, P.
Bai
, and L. K.
Ang
, “Electro-optical graphene plasmonic logic gates
,” Opt. Lett.
39
, 1629
–1632
(2014
).8.
Q.
Bao
, H.
Zhang
, Y.
Wang
, Z.
Ni
, Y.
Yan
, Z. X.
Shen
, K. P.
Loh
, and D. Y.
Tang
, “Atomic-layer graphene as a saturable absorber for ultrafast pulsed lasers
,” Adv. Func. Mater.
19
, 3077
–3083
(2009
).9.
A. A.
Lagatsky
, Z.
Sun
, T. S.
Kulmala
, R. S.
Sundaram
, S.
Milana
, F.
Torrisi
, O. L.
Antipov
, Y.
Lee
, J. H.
Ahn
, C. T. A.
Brown
, W.
Sibbett
, and A. C.
Ferrari
, “2 μm solid-state laser mode-locked by single-layer graphene
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
102
, 013113
(2013
).10.
A. N.
Grigorenko
, M.
Polini
, and K.
Novoselov
, “Graphene plasmonics
,” Nat. Photonics
6
, 749
–758
(2012
).11.
E.
Hendry
, P. J.
Hale
, J.
Moger
, A. K.
Savchenko
, and S. A.
Mikhailov
, “Coherent nonlinear optical response of graphene
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
105
, 097401
(2010
).12.
H.
Zhang
, S.
Virally
, Q.
Bao
, K. P.
Loh
, S.
Massar
, N.
Godbout
, and P.
Kockaert
, “Z-scan measurement of the nonlinear refractive index of graphene
,” Opt. Lett.
37
, 1856
–1858
(2012
).13.
T.
Gu
, N.
Petrone
, J. F.
McMillan
, A.
van der Zande
, M.
Yu
, G. Q.
Lo
, D. L.
Kwong
, J.
Hone
, and C. W.
Wong
, “Regenerative oscillation and four-wave mixing in graphene optoelectronics
,” Nat. Photonics
6
, 554
–559
(2012
).14.
J. B.
Khurgin
, “Graphene—A rather ordinary nonlinear optical material
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
104
, 161116
(2014
).15.
M.
Liu
, X.
Yin
, E.
Ulin-Avila
, B.
Geng
, T.
Zentgraf
, L.
Ju
, F.
Wang
, and X.
Zhang
, “A graphene-based broadband optical modulator
,” Nature
474
, 64
–67
(2011
).16.
C. C.
Lee
, S.
Suzuki
, W.
Xie
, and T. R.
Schibli
, “Broadband graphene electro-optic modulators with sub-wavelength thickness
,” Opt. Express
20
, 5264
–5269
(2012
).17.
Q.
Bao
, H.
Zhang
, B.
Wang
, Z.
Ni
, C. H. Y. X.
Lim
, Y.
Wang
, D. Y.
Tang
, and K. P.
Loh
, “Broadband graphene polarizer
,” Nat. Photonics
5
, 411
–415
(2011
).18.
J. T.
Kim
and C.-G.
Choi
, “Graphene-based polymer waveguide polarizer
,” Opt. Express
20
, 3556
–3562
(2012
).19.
L. A.
Falkovsky
, “Optical properties of graphene
,” J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.
129
, 012004
(2008
).20.
S. A.
Mikhailov
and K.
Ziegler
, “New electromagnetic mode in graphene
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
99
, 016803
(2007
).21.
M. A.
Foster
, K. D.
Moll
, and A. L.
Gaeta
, "Optimal waveguide dimensions for nonlinear interactions
," Opt. Express
12
, 2880
–2887
(2004
).22.
23.
D. T. H.
Tan
, K.
Ikeda
, P. C.
Sun
, and Y.
Fainman
, “Group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation in silicon nitride waveguides
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
96
, 061101
(2010
).24.
R.
Zia
, J. A.
Schuller
, A.
Chandran
, and M. L.
Brongersma
, “Plasmonics: The next chip-scale technology
,” Mater. Today
9
, 20
–27
(2006
).25.
26.
M. Z.
Alam
, J. S.
Aitchison
, and M.
Mojahedi
, “A marriage of convenience: Hybridization of surface plasmon and dielectric waveguide modes
,” Laser Photonics Rev.
8
, 394
–408
(2014
).27.
M. Z.
Alam
, J.
Meier
, J. S.
Aitchison
, and M.
Mojahedi
, “Super mode propagation in low index medium
,” in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics
, JThD112 (Optical Society of America, 2007), see http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?uri=CLEO-2007-JThD112.28.
R. F.
Oulton
, V. J.
Sorger
, D. A.
Genov
, D. F. P.
Pile
, and X.
Zhang
, “A hybrid plasmonic waveguide for subwavelength confinement and long-range propagation
,” Nat. Photonics
2
, 496
–500
(2008
).29.
H.-S.
Chu
, E.-P.
Li
, P.
Bai
, and R.
Hegde
, “Optical performance of single-mode hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide-based components
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
96
, 221103
(2010
).30.
A.
Pitilakis
and E. E.
Kriezis
, “Highly nonlinear hybrid silicon-plasmonic waveguides: analysis and optimization
,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B
30
, 1954
–1965
(2013
).31.
G.
Giovannetti
, P. A.
Khomyakov
, G.
Brocks
, V. M.
Karpan
, J. van den
Brink
, and P. J.
Kelly
, “Doping graphene with metal contacts
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
101
, 026803
(2008
).32.
Q.
Lin
, O. J.
Painter
, and G. P.
Agrawal
, "Nonlinear optical phenomena in silicon waveguides: Modeling and applications
," Opt. Express
15
, 16604
–16644
(2007
).33.
B. J.
Eggleton
, B.
Luther-Davies
, and K.
Richardson
, “Chalcogenide photonics
,” Nat. Photonics
5
, 141
–148
(2011
), see http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v5/n3/full/nphoton.2011.309.html.34.
X.
Gai
, S.
Madden
, D. Y.
Choi
, D.
Bulla
, and B.
Luther-Davies
, “Dispersion engineered Ge11.5As24Se64.5 nanowires with a nonlinear parameter of 136 W−1m−1 at 1550 nm
,” Opt. Express
18
, 18866
–18874
(2010
).© 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
2014
AIP Publishing LLC
You do not currently have access to this content.