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Ultrafast on‐Chip Remotely‐Triggered All‐Optical Switching Based on Epsilon‐Near‐Zero Nanocomposites
Author(s) -
Chai Zhen,
Hu Xiaoyong,
Wang Feifan,
Li Chong,
Ao Yutian,
Wu You,
Shi Kebin,
Yang Hong,
Gong Qihuang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.201700042
Subject(s) - ultrashort pulse , optical switch , photonics , optoelectronics , silicon photonics , materials science , switching time , chip , electronic circuit , waveguide , electronic engineering , optics , physics , computer science , telecommunications , electrical engineering , laser , engineering
On‐chip‐triggered all‐optical switching is a key component of ultrahigh‐speed and ultrawide‐band information processing chips.[1][T. Volz, 2012], [2][X. Y. Hu, 2008], [3][X. Y. Hu, 2009], [4][S. Combrie, 2013] This switching technique, the operating states of which are triggered by a remote control light, paves the way for the realization of cascaded and complicated logic processing circuits and quantum solid chips. Here, a strategy is reported to realize on‐chip remotely‐triggered, ultralow‐power, ultrafast, and nanoscale all‐optical switching with high switching efficiency in integrated photonic circuits. It is based on control‐light induced dynamic modulation of the coupling properties of two remotely‐coupled silicon photonic crystal nanocavities, and extremely large optical nonlinearity enhancement associated with epsilon‐near‐zero multi‐component nanocomposite achieved through dispersion engineering. Compared with previous reports of on‐chip direct‐triggered all‐optical switching, the threshold control intensity, 560 kW/cm 2 , is reduced by four orders of magnitude, while maintaining ultrafast switching time of 15 ps. This not only provides a strategy to construct photonic materials with ultrafast and large third‐order nonlinearity, but also offers an on‐chip platform for the fundamental study of nonlinear optics.