Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals

doi:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393

Title: Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals

Abstract

Dynamic optical control of infrared (IR) transparency and refractive index is achieved using boron-doped silicon nanocrystals excited with mid-IR optical pulses. Also, unlike previous silicon-based optical switches, large changes in transmittance are achieved without a fabricated structure by exploiting strong light coupling of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) produced from free holes of p-type silicon nanocrystals. The choice of optical excitation wavelength allows selectivity between hole heating and carrier generation through intraband or interband photoexcitation, respectively. Mid-IR optical pumping heats the free holes of p-Si nanocrystals to effective temperatures greater than 3500 K. Increases of the hole effective mass at high effective hole temperatures lead to a sub-picosecond change of the dielectric function resulting in a redshift of the LSPR, modulating mid-IR transmission by as much as 27% and increasing the index of refraction by more than 0.1 in the mid-IR. Low hole heat capacity dictates sub-picosecond hole cooling, substantially faster than carrier recombination, and negligible heating of the Si lattice, permitting mid-IR optical switching at terahertz repetition frequencies. Further, the energetic distribution of holes at high effective temperatures partially reverses the Burstein-Moss effect, permitting modulation of transmittance at telecommunications wavelengths. Lastly, the results presented here show that dopedmore »« less

Authors:

Diroll, Benjamin T. ^[1]; Schramke, Katelyn S. ^[2]; Guo, Peijun ^[1]; Kortshagen, Uwe R. ^[2]; Schaller, Richard D. ^[1]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Center for Nanoscale Materials
Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Department of Mechanical Engineering

Publication Date:: 2017-09-11

Research Org.:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division

OSTI Identifier:: 1423584

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:: Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Nano Letters

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 17; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1530-6984

Publisher:: American Chemical Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; silicon photonics; doping; infrared; optical switching; plasmonics

Citation Formats


                    Diroll, Benjamin T., Schramke, Katelyn S., Guo, Peijun, Kortshagen, Uwe R., Schaller, Richard D., and Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL. Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
        Web.  doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393.

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                    Diroll, Benjamin T., Schramke, Katelyn S., Guo, Peijun, Kortshagen, Uwe R., Schaller, Richard D., & Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL. Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393

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                    Diroll, Benjamin T., Schramke, Katelyn S., Guo, Peijun, Kortshagen, Uwe R., Schaller, Richard D., and Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL. Mon .  
        "Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1423584.

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@article{osti_1423584,

  title        = {Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals},

  author       = {Diroll, Benjamin T. and Schramke, Katelyn S. and Guo, Peijun and Kortshagen, Uwe R. and Schaller, Richard D. and Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL},

  abstractNote = {Dynamic optical control of infrared (IR) transparency and refractive index is achieved using boron-doped silicon nanocrystals excited with mid-IR optical pulses. Also, unlike previous silicon-based optical switches, large changes in transmittance are achieved without a fabricated structure by exploiting strong light coupling of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) produced from free holes of p-type silicon nanocrystals. The choice of optical excitation wavelength allows selectivity between hole heating and carrier generation through intraband or interband photoexcitation, respectively. Mid-IR optical pumping heats the free holes of p-Si nanocrystals to effective temperatures greater than 3500 K. Increases of the hole effective mass at high effective hole temperatures lead to a sub-picosecond change of the dielectric function resulting in a redshift of the LSPR, modulating mid-IR transmission by as much as 27% and increasing the index of refraction by more than 0.1 in the mid-IR. Low hole heat capacity dictates sub-picosecond hole cooling, substantially faster than carrier recombination, and negligible heating of the Si lattice, permitting mid-IR optical switching at terahertz repetition frequencies. Further, the energetic distribution of holes at high effective temperatures partially reverses the Burstein-Moss effect, permitting modulation of transmittance at telecommunications wavelengths. Lastly, the results presented here show that doped silicon, particularly in micro- or nanostructures, is a promising dynamic metamaterial for ultrafast IR photonics.},

  doi          = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1423584},
  journal      = {Nano Letters},

  issn         = {1530-6984},

  number       = 10,

  volume       = 17,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2017},

  month        = {9}

}

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https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03393

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Optoelectronic properties of methyl-terminated germanane
journal, July 2019

Livache, Clément; Ryan, Bradley J.; Ramesh, Utkarsh
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 5
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5111011

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Title: Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals

Abstract

Citation Formats

Optoelectronic properties of methyl-terminated germanane journal, July 2019

Optoelectronic properties of methyl-terminated germanane
journal, July 2019