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

• 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
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl403366d

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.