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Title: High-Speed Electro-Optic Modulator Integrated with Graphene-Boron Nitride Heterostructure and Photonic Crystal Nanocavity

Abstract

Nanoscale and power-efficient electro-optic (EO) modulators are essential components for optical interconnects that are beginning to replace electrical wiring for intra- and interchip communications. Silicon-based EO modulators show sufficient figures of merits regarding device footprint, speed, power consumption, and modulation depth. However, the weak electro-optic effect of silicon still sets a technical bottleneck for these devices, motivating the development of modulators based on new materials. Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon allotrope, has emerged as an alternative active material for optoelectronic applications owing to its exceptional optical and electronic properties. We demonstrate a high-speed graphene electro-optic modulator based on a graphene-boron nitride (BN) heterostructure integrated with a silicon photonic crystal nanocavity. Strongly enhanced light-matter interaction of graphene in a submicron cavity enables efficient electrical tuning of the cavity reflection. We observe a modulation depth of 3.2 dB and a cutoff frequency of 1.2 GHz.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [4];  [1];  [2]
  1. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  3. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
  4. Air Force Research Lab. (AFRL), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States). Sensors Directorate
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Excitonics (CE)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1370895
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001088
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nano Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 15; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; optoelectronics; electro-optic modulator; graphene; boron nitride; photonic crystal

Citation Formats

Gao, Yuanda, Shiue, Ren-Jye, Gan, Xuetao, Li, Luozhou, Peng, Cheng, Meric, Inanc, Wang, Lei, Szep, Attila, Walker, Dennis, Hone, James, and Englund, Dirk. High-Speed Electro-Optic Modulator Integrated with Graphene-Boron Nitride Heterostructure and Photonic Crystal Nanocavity. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1021/nl504860z.
Gao, Yuanda, Shiue, Ren-Jye, Gan, Xuetao, Li, Luozhou, Peng, Cheng, Meric, Inanc, Wang, Lei, Szep, Attila, Walker, Dennis, Hone, James, & Englund, Dirk. High-Speed Electro-Optic Modulator Integrated with Graphene-Boron Nitride Heterostructure and Photonic Crystal Nanocavity. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl504860z
Gao, Yuanda, Shiue, Ren-Jye, Gan, Xuetao, Li, Luozhou, Peng, Cheng, Meric, Inanc, Wang, Lei, Szep, Attila, Walker, Dennis, Hone, James, and Englund, Dirk. Fri . "High-Speed Electro-Optic Modulator Integrated with Graphene-Boron Nitride Heterostructure and Photonic Crystal Nanocavity". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl504860z. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1370895.
@article{osti_1370895,
title = {High-Speed Electro-Optic Modulator Integrated with Graphene-Boron Nitride Heterostructure and Photonic Crystal Nanocavity},
author = {Gao, Yuanda and Shiue, Ren-Jye and Gan, Xuetao and Li, Luozhou and Peng, Cheng and Meric, Inanc and Wang, Lei and Szep, Attila and Walker, Dennis and Hone, James and Englund, Dirk},
abstractNote = {Nanoscale and power-efficient electro-optic (EO) modulators are essential components for optical interconnects that are beginning to replace electrical wiring for intra- and interchip communications. Silicon-based EO modulators show sufficient figures of merits regarding device footprint, speed, power consumption, and modulation depth. However, the weak electro-optic effect of silicon still sets a technical bottleneck for these devices, motivating the development of modulators based on new materials. Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon allotrope, has emerged as an alternative active material for optoelectronic applications owing to its exceptional optical and electronic properties. We demonstrate a high-speed graphene electro-optic modulator based on a graphene-boron nitride (BN) heterostructure integrated with a silicon photonic crystal nanocavity. Strongly enhanced light-matter interaction of graphene in a submicron cavity enables efficient electrical tuning of the cavity reflection. We observe a modulation depth of 3.2 dB and a cutoff frequency of 1.2 GHz.},
doi = {10.1021/nl504860z},
journal = {Nano Letters},
number = 3,
volume = 15,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

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