Optical Pulse Propagation in Graphene-comprising Waveguides: Beyond the Perturbative Nonlinear Regime

Abstract

We present a consolidated overview of electromagnetic (EM) nonlinearity in graphene, spanning perturbative and thermodynamic (non-perturbative) input power regimes. We aim for a unified and self-consistent framework for the complex broadband graphene nonlinear response, without resorting to approximations that lead to well known nonlinear effects. Our focus is on all-optical applications of highly-confining NIR photonic waveguide structures, where graphene is in-plane and patterned (non-uniform), Fig. 1(a) . This is in contrast to existing theoretical models for graphene nonlinearity, which assume normal incidence on air-suspended or dielectric-backed infinite (uniform) layers. Moreover, we show how engineering of graphene and photonic waveguide layers enables electric tuning of graphene linear and nonlinear response, thus unveiling rich physics with potential applications.