Photonics based on carbon nanotubes

Qingyuan Gu,Maud Gicquel-Guézo,Hervé Folliot,Frederic Grillot,Diana Huffaker,Annick Loiseau,Baolai Liang,Thomas Batte,Olivier Dehaese,Yann Battie,Slimane Loualiche,Julie Le Pouliquen

doi:10.1186/1556-276x-8-300

Abstract

Among direct-bandgap semiconducting nanomaterials, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) exhibit strong quasi-one-dimensional excitonic optical properties, which confer them a great potential for their integration in future photonics devices as an alternative solution to conventional inorganic semiconductors. In this paper, we will highlight SWCNT optical properties for passive as well as active applications in future optical networking. For passive applications, we directly compare the efficiency and power consumption of saturable absorbers (SAs) based on SWCNT with SA based on conventional multiple quantum wells. For active applications, exceptional photoluminescence properties of SWCNT, such as excellent light-emission stabilities with temperature and excitation power, hold these nanometer-scale materials as prime candidates for future active photonics devices with superior performances.

Highlights

Future technologies in photonics emerge ideally from research studies revealing systems with greater performance/ cost ratio, as well as more flexible technological orientations with easier manufacturing processes
Comparison of Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and multiple quantum wells (MQW) nonlinear optical properties for passive photonics applications: pump-probe experiments In order to compare SWCNT with MQW optical property performances for saturable absorption and optical switching applications, pump-probe experiments are performed at 1,550 nm with femtosecond optical excitation, 0.05
From the adjustments of this normalized differential transmission (NDT) analytic expression represented in dotted lines in Figure 1 with experimental curves, we extract FS values of 9, 70, and 726 μJ cm−2 for M-SWCNT, MQW, and bundled SWCNT (B-SWCNT), respectively

Summary

Introduction

Future technologies in photonics emerge ideally from research studies revealing systems with greater performance/ cost ratio, as well as more flexible technological orientations with easier manufacturing processes. Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-based photonics technology is becoming a reality as commercial photonics solutions include SWCNT-based devices [1]. A large number of studies on SWCNT nonlinear excitonic optical properties for saturable absorption (SA) applications in mode-locking fiber lasers have been reported [2,3,4]. The literature on SA applications for SWCNT-based ultrafast optical switching stays poor in number. One kind of cheaper and easier-to-fabricate SA based on carbon nanotubes demonstrated faster switching time, lower saturation fluence, and higher contrast ratio than MQW-SA [6,7,8,9,10,11]

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Results

Conclusion