Enhanced all-optical modulation in a graphene-coated fibre with low insertion loss.
Enhanced all-optical modulation in a graphene-coated fibre with low insertion loss.
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DOI：
10.1038/srep23512
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发表时间：
2016-03-22
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Peacock AC
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zhang H;Healy N;Shen L;Huang CC;Hewak DW;Peacock AC
石墨烯是一种用途广泛的二维材料平台，具有优异的光学和电学性能。其中，它的动态导电性和低有效载流子质量对于光电应用特别有意义，因为它们分别支持了材料的宽带非线性光学吸收和超快载流子迁移率。在本文中，我们利用这些现象来演示一种在侧面抛光光纤平台上开发的高速光纤内光调制器。通过将纤维抛光到接近原子光滑的表面(<；1 nm均方根)，实现了极低的插入损耗(<；1 分贝)，从而最大限度地减少了散射，并确保了石墨烯薄膜与纤维之间的良好接触。为了增强光与物质的相互作用，石墨烯薄膜被涂上了一层高指数的聚乙烯醇缩丁醛，这增加了作为周围环境屏障的优势。利用这种创新的方法，我们制作了一个坚固而稳定的全光纤器件，消光比高达9 分贝，工作带宽为0.5THz。这些结果代表着在标准电信网络中整合低维材料的关键一步。
Graphene is a highly versatile two-dimensional material platform that offers exceptional optical and electrical properties. Of these, its dynamic conductivity and low effective carrier mass are of particular interest for optoelectronic applications as they underpin the material’s broadband nonlinear optical absorption and ultra-fast carrier mobility, respectively. In this paper, we utilize these phenomena to demonstrate a high-speed, in-fibre optical modulator developed on a side-polished optical fibre platform. An especially low insertion loss (<1 dB) was achieved by polishing the fibre to a near atomically smooth surface (<1 nm RMS), which minimized scattering and ensured excellent contact between the graphene film and the fibre. In order to enhance the light-matter interaction, the graphene film is coated with a high index polyvinyl butyral layer, which has the added advantage of acting as a barrier to the surrounding environment. Using this innovative approach, we have fabricated a robust and stable all-fibre device with an extinction ratio as high as 9 dB and operation bandwidth of 0.5 THz. These results represent a key step towards the integration of low-dimensional materials within standard telecoms networks.