Light modulation is an essential operation in photonics and optoelectronics. With existing and emerging technologies increasingly demanding compact, efficient, fast and broadband optical modulators, high-performance light modulation solutions are becoming indispensable. The recent realization that 2D layered materials could modulate light with superior performance has prompted intense research and significant advances, paving the way for realistic applications. In this Review, we cover the state of the art of optical modulators based on 2D materials, including graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus. We discuss recent advances employing hybrid structures, such as 2D heterostructures, plasmonic structures, and silicon and fibre integrated structures. We also take a look at the future perspectives and discuss the potential of yet relatively unexplored mechanisms, such as magneto-optic and acousto-optic modulation.

/pdf/optical-modulators-with-2d-layered-materials-27x5sxnqqm.pdf

Optical modulators with 2D layered materials

With the increasing importance of wireless microelectronic devices the need for on-board power supplies is evidently also increasing. Possible candidates for microenergy storage devices are planar all-solid-state Li-ion microbatteries, which are currently under development by several start-up companies. However, to increase the energy density of these microbatteries further and to ensure a high power delivery, three-dimensional (3D) designs are essential. Therefore, several concepts have been proposed for the design of 3D microbatteries and these are reviewed. In addition, an overview is given of the various electrode and electrolyte materials that are suitable for 3D all-solid-state microbatteries. Furthermore, methods are presented to produce films of these materials on a nano- and microscale.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aenm.201000002

All-Solid-State Lithium-Ion Microbatteries: A Review of Various Three-Dimensional Concepts

Organic dyes have been used as gain medium for lasers since the 1960s, long before the advent of today’s organic electronic devices. Organic gain materials are highly attractive for lasing due to their chemical tunability and large stimulated emission cross section. While the traditional dye laser has been largely replaced by solid-state lasers, a number of new and miniaturized organic lasers have emerged that hold great potential for lab-on-chip applications, biointegration, low-cost sensing and related areas, which benefit from the unique properties of organic gain materials. On the fundamental level, these include high exciton binding energy, low refractive index (compared to inorganic semiconductors), and ease of spectral and chemical tuning. On a technological level, mechanical flexibility and compatibility with simple processing techniques such as printing, roll-to-roll, self-assembly, and soft-lithography are most relevant. Here, the authors provide a comprehensive review of the developments in the...

/pdf/organic-lasers-recent-developments-on-materials-device-3jgt2bn0mn.pdf

Organic Lasers: Recent Developments on Materials, Device Geometries, and Fabrication Techniques

2D layered materials (2DLMs) are a subject of intense research for a wide variety of applications (e.g., electronics, photonics, and optoelectronics) due to their unique physical properties. Most recently, increasing research efforts on 2DLMs are projected toward the nonlinear optical properties of 2DLMs, which are not only fascinating from the fundamental science point of view but also intriguing for various potential applications. Here, the current state of the art in the field of nonlinear optics based on 2DLMs and their hybrid structures (e.g., mixed-dimensional heterostructures, plasmonic structures, and silicon/fiber integrated structures) is reviewed. Several potential perspectives and possible future research directions of these promising nanomaterials for nonlinear optics are also presented.

/pdf/nonlinear-optics-with-2d-layered-materials-2vqqmfom9u.pdf

Nonlinear Optics with 2D Layered Materials.

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) technology is revolutionizing the lithium niobate industry, enabling higher performance, lower cost and entirely new devices and applications. The availability of LNOI wafers has sparked significant interest in the platform for integrated optical applications, as LNOI offers the attractive material properties of lithium niobate, while also offering the stronger optical confinement and a high optical element integration density that has driven the success of more mature silicon and silicon nitride (SiN) photonics platforms. Due to some similarities between LNOI and SiN, established techniques and standards can readily be adapted to the LNOI platform including a significant array of interface approaches, device designs and also heterogeneous integration techniques for laser sources and photodetectors. In this contribution, we review the latest developments in this platform, examine where further development is necessary to achieve more functionalities in LNOI integrated optical circuits and make a few suggestions of interesting applications that could be realized in this platform. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Status and Potential of Lithium Niobate on Insulator (LNOI) for Photonic Integrated Circuits

Graphene is an optical material of unusual characteristics because of its linearly dispersive conduction and valence bands and the strong interband transitions. It allows broadband light-matter interactions with ultrafast responses and can be readily pasted to surfaces of functional structures for photonic and optoelectronic applications. Recently, graphene-based optical modulators have been demonstrated with electrical tuning of the Fermi level of graphene. Their operation bandwidth, however, was limited to about 1 GHz by the response of the driving electrical circuit. Clearly, this can be improved by an all-optical approach. Here, we show that a graphene-clad microfiber all-optical modulator can achieve a modulation depth of 38% and a response time of ∼2.2 ps, limited only by the intrinsic carrier relaxation time of graphene. This modulator is compatible with current high-speed fiber-optic communication networks and may open the door to meet future demand of ultrafast optical signal processing.

/pdf/ultrafast-all-optical-graphene-modulator-29dpuypdgs.pdf

Ultrafast All-Optical Graphene Modulator

We report on fabrication of high-Q lithium niobate (LN) whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonators suspended on silica pedestals by femtosecond laser direct writing followed by focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The micrometer-scale (diameter ~82 μm) LN resonator possesses a Q factor of ~2.5 × 105 around 1550 nm wavelength. The combination of femtosecond laser direct writing with FIB enables high-efficiency, high-precision nanofabrication of high-Q crystalline microresonators.

/pdf/fabrication-of-high-q-lithium-niobate-microresonators-using-5e8938fie9.pdf

Fabrication of high-Q lithium niobate microresonators using femtosecond laser micromachining

Applications in optics and photonics, such as frequency doubling of a laser, require compact, efficient hardware. The authors demonstrate highly efficient nonlinear frequency conversion in a microdisk resonator about 100 $\ensuremath{\mu}$m across. The key to efficiency in this parametric process is phase matching, which becomes more difficult at smaller length scales. This achievement is a significant step toward chip-integrated nonlinear optical devices.

Phase-Matched Second-Harmonic Generation in an On-Chip L i NbO 3 Microresonator

Electronic skin, a class of wearable electronic sensors that mimic the functionalities of human skin, has made remarkable success in applications including health monitoring, human-machine interaction and electronic-biological interfaces. While electronic skin continues to achieve higher sensitivity and faster response, its ultimate performance is fundamentally limited by the nature of low-frequency AC currents. Herein, highly sensitive skin-like wearable optical sensors are demonstrated by embedding glass micro/nanofibers (MNFs) in thin layers of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Enabled by the transition from guided modes into radiation modes of the waveguiding MNFs upon external stimuli, the skin-like optical sensors show ultrahigh sensitivity (1870 kPa-1), low detection limit (7 mPa) and fast response (10 μs) for pressure sensing, significantly exceeding the performance metrics of state-of-the-art electronic skins. Electromagnetic interference (EMI)-free detection of high-frequency vibrations, wrist pulse and human voice are realized. Moreover, a five-sensor optical data glove and a 2×2-MNF tactile sensor are demonstrated. These initial results pave the way toward a new category of optical devices ranging from ultrasensitive wearable sensors to optical skins.

Ultrasensitive skin-like wearable optical sensors based on glass micro/nanofibers

We report on fabrication of high Q lithium niobate (LN) whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonators suspended on silica pedestals by femtosecond laser microfabrication. The micrometer-scale (diameter ~82 {\mu}m) LN resonator possesses a Q factor of 2.5x10^5 around 1550 nm wavelength range. Moreover, second harmonic generation with a continuous-wave tunable single-longitudinal-mode pump laser in the on-chip LN microresonator is demonstrated in the on-chip LN microresonator. A fiber taper is employed to couple the pump laser into the microresonator, showing a normalized conversion efficiency of 1.35x10^-5/mW.

Yingxin Xu

Papers

Ultrafast All-Optical Graphene Modulator

Fabrication of high-Q lithium niobate microresonators using femtosecond laser micromachining

Phase-Matched Second-Harmonic Generation in an On-Chip L i NbO 3 Microresonator

Ultrasensitive skin-like wearable optical sensors based on glass micro/nanofibers

Second harmonic generation in a high-Q lithium niobate microresonator fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining