English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Transparent conducting oxides have recently gained great attention asCMOS-compatible materials for applications in nanophotonics due to their lowoptical loss, metal-like behavior, versatile/tailorable optical properties, andestablished fabrication procedures. In particular, aluminum doped zinc oxide(AZO) is very attractive because its dielectric permittivity can be engineeredover a broad range in the near infrared and infrared. However, despite allthese beneficial features, the slow (> 100 ps) electron-hole recombination timetypical of these compounds still represents a fundamental limitation impedingultrafast optical modulation. Here we report the first epsilon-near-zero AZOthin films which simultaneously exhibit ultra-fast carrier dynamics (excitationand recombination time below 1 ps) and an outstanding reflectance modulation upto 40% for very low pump fluence levels (< 4 mJ/cm2) at the telecom wavelengthof 1.3 {\mu}m. The unique properties of the demonstrated AZO thin films are theresult of a low temperature fabrication procedure promoting oxygen vacanciesand an ultra-high carrier concentration. As a proof-of-concept, an all-opticalAZO-based plasmonic modulator achieving 3 dB modulation in 7.5 {\mu}m andoperating at THz frequencies is numerically demonstrated. Our results overcomethe traditional "modulation depth vs. speed" trade-off by at least an order ofmagnitude, placing AZO among the most promising compounds fortunable/switchable nanophotonics.

Epsilon-Near-Zero Al-Doped ZnO for Ultrafast Switching at Telecom Wavelengths: Outpacing the Traditional Amplitude-Bandwidth Trade-Off