Yuxing Yang

Bottom-up fabrication of photoluminescent carbon dots with uniform morphology via a soft–hard template approach

A novel soft-hard template approach for preparing photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) with tunable sizes, compositions, crystalline degrees and photoluminescence properties has been developed using four different precursors as carbon sources. The results offer a new strategy for fabrication of monodispersed CDs with well-defined morphology.

A facile hydrothermal approach towards photoluminescent carbon dots from amino acids

A facile one-pot method to fabricate photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) was developed by the hydrothermal treatment of amino acids at mild temperatures. Derived from three different kinds of amino acids including serine, histidine, and cystine, the resultant CDs show uniform spherical morphology with the diameters in the range of ∼2.5-4.7nm. These amino acid derived CDs also manifest excellent photoluminescence behavior with the quantum yields (QYs) of ∼7.5% and high stability. More importantly, this method provides the opportunity to modify the sizes, structures, and photoluminescent behavior of CDs by the utilization of diversified amino acids with different structural characteristics.

Compact tunable silicon photonic differential-equation solver for general linear time-invariant systems

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an all-optical temporal differential-equation solver that can be used to solve ordinary differential equations (ODEs) characterizing general linear time-invariant (LTI) systems. The photonic device implemented by an add-drop microring resonator (MRR) with two tunable interferometric couplers is monolithically integrated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with a compact footprint of ~60 μm × 120 μm. By thermally tuning the phase shifts along the bus arms of the two interferometric couplers, the proposed device is capable of solving first-order ODEs with two variable coefficients. The operation principle is theoretically analyzed, and system testing of solving ODE with tunable coefficients is carried out for 10-Gb/s optical Gaussian-like pulses. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the fabricated device as a tunable photonic ODE solver.

Analysis of an electro-optic modulator based on a graphene-silicon hybrid 1D photonic crystal nanobeam cavity.

We propose and numerically study an on-chip graphene-silicon hybrid electro-optic (EO) modulator operating at the telecommunication band, which is implemented by a compact 1D photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavity coupled to a bus waveguide with a graphene sheet on top. Through electrically tuning the Fermi level of the graphene, both the quality factor and the resonance wavelength can be significantly changed, thus the in-plane lightwave can be efficiently modulated. Based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation results, the proposed modulator can provide a large free spectral range (FSR) of 125.6 nm, a high modulation speed of 133 GHz, and a large modulation depth of ~12.5 dB in a small modal volume, promising a high performance EO modulator for wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical communication systems.

Compact on-chip 1 × 2 wavelength selective switch based on silicon microring resonator with nested pairs of subrings

We propose and experimentally demonstrate compact on-chip 1×2 wavelength selective switches (WSSs) based on silicon microring resonators (MRRs) with nested pairs of subrings (NPSs). Owing to the resonance splitting induced by the inner NPSs, the proposed devices are capable of performing selective channel routing at certain resonance wavelengths of the outer MRRs. System demonstration of dynamic channel routing using fabricated devices with one and two NPSs is carried out for 10  Gb/s non-return-to-zero signal. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the fabricated devices as compact on-chip WSSs.

Wavelength and bandwidth-tunable silicon comb filter based on Sagnac loop mirrors with Mach-Zehnder interferometer couplers.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a wavelength and bandwidth-tunable comb filter based on silicon Sagnac loop mirrors (SLMs) with Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) couplers. By thermally tuning the MZI couplers in common and differential modes, the phase shift and reflectivity of the SLMs can be changed, respectively, leading to tunable wavelength and bandwidth of the comb filter. The fabricated comb filter has 93 comb lines in the wavelength range from 1535 nm to 1565 nm spaced by ~0.322 nm. The central wavelength can be red-shifted by ~0.462 nm with a tuning efficiency of ~0.019 nm/mW. A continuously tunable bandwidth from 5.88 GHz to 24.89 GHz is also achieved with a differential heating power ranging from 0.00 mW to 0.53 mW.

Bottom-up Fabrication of Graphene on Silicon/Silica Substrate via a Facile Soft-hard Template Approach.

In this work, a novel soft-hard template method towards the direct fabrication of graphene films on silicon/silica substrate is developed via a tri-constituent self-assembly route. Using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template, silica (SiO2) from tetramethoxysilane as a hard template, and pyrene as a carbon source, the self-assembly process allows the formation of a sandwich-like SiO2/CTAB/pyrene composite, which can be further converted to high quantity graphene films with a thickness of ~1 nm and a size of over 5 μm by thermal treatment. The morphology and thickness of the graphene films can be effectively controlled through the adjustment of the ratio of pyrene to CTAB. Furthermore, a high nonlinear refractive index n2 of ~10−12 m2 W−1 is measured from graphene/silica hybrid film, which is six orders of magnitude larger than that of silicon and comparable to the graphene from chemical vapor deposition process.

All-optical control of light on a graphene-on-silicon nitride chip using thermo-optic effect

All-optical signal processing avoids the conversion between optical signals and electronic signals and thus has the potential to achieve a power efficient photonic system. Micro-scale all-optical devices for light manipulation are the key components in the all-optical signal processing and have been built on the semiconductor platforms (e.g., silicon and III-V semiconductors). However, the two-photon absorption (TPA) effect and the free-carrier absorption (FCA) effect in these platforms deteriorate the power handling and limit the capability to realize complex functions. Instead, silicon nitride (Si3N4) provides a possibility to realize all-optical large-scale integrated circuits due to its insulator nature without TPA and FCA. In this work, we investigate the physical dynamics of all-optical control on a graphene-on-Si3N4 chip based on thermo-optic effect. In the experimental demonstration, a switching response time constant of 253.0 ns at a switching energy of ~50 nJ is obtained with a device dimension of 60 μm × 60 μm, corresponding to a figure of merit (FOM) of 3.0 nJ mm. Detailed coupled-mode theory based analysis on the thermo-optic effect of the device has been performed.

Ultra-compact tunable silicon nanobeam cavity with an energy-efficient graphene micro-heater

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an ultra-compact silicon photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavity with an energy-efficient graphene micro-heater. Owing to the PCN cavity with an ultra-small optical mode volume of 0.145 µm3, the light-matter interaction is greatly enhanced and the thermo-optic (TO) tuning efficiency is increased. The TO tuning efficiency is measured to be as high as 1.5 nm/mW, which can be further increased to 3.75 nm/mW based on numerical simulations with an optimized structure. The time constants with a rise time constant of τrise = 1.11 μs and a fall time constant of τfall = 1.47 μs are obtained in the experiment.

A 2×2 silicon thermo-optic switch based on nanobeam cavities with ultra-small mode volumes

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a 2×2 thermo-optic (TO) switch implemented by dual photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavities. This structure can achieve low switching power owing to the small mode volumes of the PCN cavities. Extinction ratio of ~15 dB is achieved at through port.