Low-dimensional materials for optically-assisted microwave applications

From latest nanotechnology advances, low-dimensional matter confinement delivered by nanostructuration or few-layer stacking offer new opportunities for ultimate light absorption performances. In this field, semiconducting 2D materials and photonic crystals have already demonstrated promising flexible optical properties from monoatomic to bulk structuration covering visible to IR spectral range. Today, these emerging materials such as Phosphorene, allow reconsideration of some physical effects such as photoconductivity. Indeed, its exploitation in integrated planar structures become c in terms of efficient local contactless control with a high degree of tunability by optics in association with high dark resistivity, fast carrier dynamics, and sub-wavelength light coupling solutions compatibility. Multiscale modeling and design tools implementing material anisotropic parameters from atomic configuration up to mesoscale, in complement with multiscale optical characterization in a large frequency bandwidth opens routes to new microwave signal processing functionalities such as switching, generation, amplification and emission over a large frequency bandwidth, that could not be achieved by full electronic solutions. This paper will report on latest demonstrations of high performance photoconductive structures for high frequency applications and review state-of-the-art research work in this area, with a specific focus on latest demonstrations for airborne applications.