Norberto D. Lanzillotti-Kimura

Ultra-compact silicon nanophotonic modulator with broadband response

Abstract Electro-optic modulators have been identified as the key drivers for optical communication and signal processing. With an ongoing miniaturization of photonic circuitries, an outstanding aim is to demonstrate an on-chip, ultra-compact, electro-optic modulator without sacrificing bandwidth and modulation strength. While silicon-based electro-optic modulators have been demonstrated, they require large device footprints of the order of millimeters as a result of weak non-linear electro-optical properties. The modulation strength can be increased by deploying a high-Q resonator, however with the trade-off of significantly sacrificing bandwidth. Furthermore, design challenges and temperature tuning limit the deployment of such resonance-based modulators. Recently, novel materials like graphene have been investigated for electro-optic modulation applications with a 0.1 dB per micrometer modulation strength, while showing an improvement over pure silicon devices, this design still requires device lengths of tens of micrometers due to the inefficient overlap between the thin graphene layer, and the optical mode of the silicon waveguide. Here we experimentally demonstrate an ultra-compact, silicon-based, electro-optic modulator with a record-high 1 dB per micrometer extinction ratio over a wide bandwidth range of 1 μm in ambient conditions. The device is based on a plasmonic metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) waveguide, which efficiently concentrates the optical modes’ electric field into a nanometer thin region comprised of an absorption coefficient-tuneable indium-tin-oxide (ITO) layer. The modulation mechanism originates from electrically changing the free carrier concentration of the ITO layer which dramatically increases the loss of this MOS mode. The seamless integration of such a strong optical beam modulation into an existing silicon-on-insulator platform bears significant potential towards broadband, compact and efficient communication links and circuits.

Ultrafast acousto-plasmonic control and sensing in complex nanostructures

Coherent acoustic phonons modulate optical, electronic and mechanical properties at ultrahigh frequencies and can be exploited for applications such as ultratrace chemical detection, ultrafast lasers and transducers. Owing to their large absorption cross-sections and high sensitivities, nanoplasmonic resonators are used to generate coherent phonons up to terahertz frequencies. Generating, detecting and controlling such ultrahigh frequency phonons has been a topic of intense research. Here we report that by designing plasmonic nanostructures exhibiting multimodal phonon interference, we can detect the spatial properties of complex phonon modes below the optical wavelength through the interplay between plasmons and phonons. This allows detection of complex nanomechanical dynamics by polarization-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy. Moreover, we demonstrate that the multiple vibrational states in nanostructures can be tailored by manipulating the geometry and dynamically selected by acousto-plasmonic coherent control. This allows enhancement, detection and coherent generation of tunable strains using surface plasmons.

Reflective interferometry for optical metamaterial phase measurements

The unambiguous determination of optical refractive indices of metamaterials is a challenging task for device applications and the study of new optical phenomena. We demonstrate here simple broadband phase measurements of metamaterials using spectrally and spatially resolved interferometry. We study the phase response of a π-shaped metamaterial known to be an analog to electromagnetically induced transparency. The measured broadband interferograms give the phase delay or advance produced by the metamaterial in a single measurement. The presented technique offers an effective way of characterizing optical metamaterials including nonlinear and gain-metamaterial systems.

Plasmon Dynamics in Coupled Optical Microcavities

We theoretically analyze the coupling effects and the plasmon dynamics in a structure formed by a pure optical microcavity connected to a hybrid plasmonic microcavity in a silicon optical waveguide.