CNIC: Hybrid Microcavity-based Optical Switches and Pulsed Lasers

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The goal of this CNIC proposal is to catalyze an international collaboration between the University of Southern California (USA) and KIST (Korea). The focus of the research effort is to develop an integrated optical switch and a pulsed laser based on a graphene coated silica micro-toroid resonant cavity. As a result of the extremely high non-linear coefficient of graphene and the long photon lifetime within the optical cavity, femtosecond laser pulses will be generated. This behavior can be used as an ultra-fast optical switch, among other applications. During the course of the program, graphene layers will be conformally deposited on silica toroidal microcavities as well as optical fibers. Subsequently, light will be coupled into the graphene-silica fiber and cavity, and the high frequency pulse behavior will be studied and characterized.Ultrafast optical switches have numerous applications, most notably increasing the data transfer rate of optical networks. As such, the development of an optical switch with improved performance (speed, lifetime or power consumption) will greatly impact society. The proposal will enable a graduate student to spend time abroad in the collaborator's research group in Korea, immersed in their lab. The outreach effort supported by this CNIC proposal includes recruiting undergraduate students to participate in year-long research projects, and incorporating research experience in an undergraduate course. This CNIC award is funded by the International Science and Engineering section (OIIA/ISE) with co-funding from the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems division of Engineering (ENG/ECCS).