Optical Diode Action from Axially Asymmetric Nonlinearity in an All-Carbon Solid-State Device

Nanostructured carbons are posited to offer an alternative to silicon and lead to further miniaturization of photonic and electronic devices. Here, we report the experimental realization of the first all-carbon solid-state optical diode that is based on axially asymmetric nonlinear absorption in a t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2013-12, Vol.13 (12), p.5771-5776
Main Authors: Anand, Benoy, Podila, Ramakrishna, Lingam, Kiran, Krishnan, S. R, Siva Sankara Sai, S, Philip, Reji, Rao, Apparao M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Asymmetry
Buckminsterfullerene
Carbon
Carbon - chemistry
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Diodes
Exact sciences and technology
Fullerenes
Fullerenes and related materials
diamonds, graphite
Graphene
Graphite - chemistry
Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties
Materials science
Nanostructure
Nanostructures - chemistry
Nanotubes, Carbon - chemistry
Nonlinearity
Optics and Photonics
Physics
Silicon - chemistry
Specific materials
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
Thermal properties of condensed matter
Thermal properties of small particles, nanocrystals, nanotubes
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Summary:Nanostructured carbons are posited to offer an alternative to silicon and lead to further miniaturization of photonic and electronic devices. Here, we report the experimental realization of the first all-carbon solid-state optical diode that is based on axially asymmetric nonlinear absorption in a thin saturable absorber (graphene) and a thin reverse saturable absorber (C60) arranged in tandem. This all-optical diode action is polarization independent and has no phase-matching constraints. The nonreciprocity factor of the device can be tuned by varying the number of graphene layers and the concentration or thickness of the C60 coating. This ultracompact graphene/C60 based optical diode is versatile with an inherently large bandwidth, chemical and thermal stability, and is poised for cost-effective large-scale integration with existing fabrication technologies.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/nl403366d