Polarization-selective reconfigurability in hybridized-active-dielectric nanowires

Abstract

Wavelength and polarization are two fundamental properties of light within which information can be encoded and (de)multiplexed. While wavelength-selective systems have widely proliferated, polarization-addressable active photonics has not seen notable progress, primarily because tunable and polarization-selective nanostructures have been elusive. Here, we introduce hybridized-active-dielectric (HAD) nanowires to achieve polarization-selective tunability. We then demonstrate the ability to use polarization as a parameter to selectively modulate the conductance of individual nanowires within a multi-nanowire system. By using polarization as the tunable vector, we show matrix-vector multiplication in a nanowire device configuration. While our HAD nanowires use phase-change materials as the active material, this concept is readily generalized to other active materials hybridized with dielectrics and thus has the potential in a broad range of applications from photonic memories and routing to polarization-multiplexed computing.

On-Chip Waveguided Spintronic Sources of Terahertz Radiation

“…With rising interest in photonic chips utilizing techniques for optical polarization control, ,, such a waveguided THz radiation source could seamlessly be integrated with optical circuitry that allows for THz power modulation. By replacing the Fe film of this same device with materials exhibiting magnetic anisotropy, it would be possible to create an on-chip THz radiation source capable of both THz polarization control and THz power modulation via innate device properties without reliance on external components.…”

“…The relation between the THz signal amplitude and the polarization angle of the optical pump pulse, shown in Figure 7, exhibits the expected sinusoidal relationship, confirming that it is possible to control the output THz power of such waveguided spintronic THz radiation emitters by 87% via modulation of the polarization of the optical excitation pulse. Such a feature would be useful for on-chip platforms such as hybrid photonic-THz interlinks, where optical polarization control schemes such as those used in emerging polarization-based photonic processors 58 could also be used to modulate THz radiation power.…”

Editorial: Editor’s challenge in optics and photonics: Advancing electronics with photonics

“…Editor' s challenge in optics and photonics: Advancing electronics with photonics Photonics has the potential to significantly enhance electronics in various areas such as computing and communications [1]. By using photons as the information carrier rather than electrons, photonics can process more data at higher frequencies with less power consumption than conventional electronics [2]. This is particularly evident in the field of photonic computing or photonic neural network [3].…”

Retrieving the subwavelength cross-section of dielectric nanowires with asymmetric excitation of Bloch surface waves

“…Subwavelength nanostructures are fundamental components of modern nanophotonic devices which successfully solve complex tasks in computing, 1 quantum simulation 2 and nonlinear optics. 3 Particularly, 1D subwavelength nanostructures including nanowires, 4–6 nanoslits, 7,8 nanochains 9,10 and grooves 11,12 have been applied in photonic integrated circuits, 13–15 nano/micro lasers, 16–18 photodetectors, 19 dichroic splitters, 20 planar lenses, 21 polarization switches, 22 displacement measurements, 23 spectrometers 24,25 and the asymmetric excitation of surface waves. 26,27 The properties of nanodevices are strongly related to the geometric size of nanowires such as in superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs), 28 quantum emitters 29,30 and luminescence spectrum of semiconductor nanowires, 31–33 so it is valuable to characterize the widths of nanowires and to study the interaction between incident light and nanowires.…”