Polarization-insensitive optical modulators based on single ENZ-graphene layers

We show a strategy to design polarization-insensitive electro-optical modulators based on the use of single-layer graphene sheets working at the ε-near-zero (ENZ) regime. An external voltage is used to change the optical properties of graphene at will, allowing dynamical tuning of the permittivity between dielectric and metallic behavior. As a proof of concept, we designed an ultra-compact modulator, with a minimum length of 5.22 µm, to produce a 3 dB modulation depth when working at the center of the optical C-band (λ = 1550 nm). The modulation principle is based on the high electromagnetic absorption associated to the ENZ mode of graphene. Our approach can be used for highly integrated, cost-effective and energy-efficient nanophotonic circuits in future optical communication networks.

[1]  Dong Liang,et al.  Polarization-Independent Modulator by Partly Tilted Graphene-Induced Electro-Absorption Effect , 2017, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[2]  Mohamed A. Swillam,et al.  High-speed hybrid plasmonic electro-optical absorption modulator exploiting epsilon-near-zero effect in indium-tin-oxide , 2018, Journal of Nanophotonics.

[3]  Daniel Schall,et al.  Experimental verification of electro-refractive phase modulation in graphene , 2015, Scientific reports.

[4]  Rajeev J Ram,et al.  Integrating photonics with silicon nanoelectronics for the next generation of systems on a chip , 2018, Nature.

[5]  I. Malitson.  Interspecimen Comparison of the Refractive Index of Fused Silica , 1965 .

[6]  Bingyan Chen,et al.  Realization of low contact resistance close to theoretical limit in graphene transistors , 2015, Nano Research.

[7]  Antonio D’Errico,et al.  Graphene-based integrated photonics for next-generation datacom and telecom , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[8]  M. Al-Kuhaili.  Optical properties of hafnium oxide thin films and their application in energy-efficient windows , 2004 .

[9]  Laura Mančinska,et al.  Multidimensional quantum entanglement with large-scale integrated optics , 2018, Science.

[10]  J. Coleman,et al.  Are there fundamental limitations on the sheet resistance and transmittance of thin graphene films? , 2010, ACS nano.

[11]  H. Li.  Refractive index of silicon and germanium and its wavelength and temperature derivatives , 1980 .

[12]  Wangshi Zhao,et al.  Nanoscale electro-optic modulators based on graphene-slot waveguides , 2012 .

[13]  M. K. Shah,et al.  High-Speed Optical Phase Modulator Based on Graphene-Silicon Waveguide , 2017, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[14]  Nathan Youngblood,et al.  Multifunctional graphene optical modulator and photodetector integrated on silicon waveguides. , 2014, Nano letters.

[15]  Jinzhong Yu,et al.  44-Gb/s Silicon Microring Modulators Based on Zigzag PN Junctions , 2012, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[16]  D. Miller,et al.  Optical interconnects to silicon , 2000, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[17]  M. Shur,et al.  Far-infrared and terahertz emitting diodes based on graphene/black-P and graphene/MoS2 heterostructures. , 2020, Optics express.

[18]  K. Mak,et al.  Optical spectroscopy of graphene: From the far infrared to the ultraviolet , 2012 .

[19]  Jacek Gosciniak,et al.  Theoretical investigation of graphene-based photonic modulators , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[20]  K. Debnath,et al.  Low-energy high-speed graphene modulator for on-chip communication , 2019, OSA Continuum.

[21]  Zhendong Yan,et al.  Graphene ultraviolet ultrahigh-Q perfect absorption for nanoscale optical sensing. , 2020, Optics express.

[22]  M. Heydari,et al.  A comparative analysis of the accuracy of Kubo formulations for graphene plasmonics , 2019, Materials Research Express.

[23]  M. Paniccia,et al.  A high-speed silicon optical modulator based on a metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitor , 2004, Nature.

[24]  M. Morse,et al.  High speed silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator. , 2005, Optics express.

[25]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  A graphene-based broadband optical modulator , 2011, Nature.

[26]  M. Rezaei,et al.  High-performance tunable resonant electro-optical modulator based on suspended graphene waveguides. , 2021, Optics express.

[27]  Qing Huo Liu,et al.  Modeling of 2D graphene material for plasmonic hybrid waveguide with enhanced near-infrared modulation , 2017 .

[28]  Hirokazu Fukidome,et al.  Graphene-based devices in terahertz science and technology , 2012 .

[29]  Anthony L Lentine,et al.  Low-voltage differentially-signaled modulators. , 2011, Optics express.

[30]  Sheng Qu,et al.  Tunable graphene-based hybrid plasmonic modulators for subwavelength confinement , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[31]  Jian Wang,et al.  Design of graphene-based polarization-insensitive optical modulator , 2018 .

[32]  A Graphene-based Polarization-Insensitive Optical Modulator , 2014 .

[33]  F. Xia,et al.  The origins and limits of metal-graphene junction resistance. , 2011, Nature nanotechnology.

[34]  Ke Xu,et al.  High-responsivity graphene/silicon-heterostructure waveguide photodetectors , 2013, Nature Photonics.

[35]  James S. Harris,et al.  Epsilon-Near-Zero Si Slot-Waveguide Modulator , 2018, ACS Photonics.