Optical modulator including grapene

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9360689-B2
Application number	US-201314054342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 15, 2013
Priority date	Apr 22, 2011
Publication date	Jun 7, 2016
Grant date	Jun 7, 2016

Abstract

The present invention provides for a one or more layer graphene optical modulator. In a first exemplary embodiment the optical modulator includes an optical waveguide, a nanoscale oxide spacer adjacent to a working region of the waveguide, and a monolayer graphene sheet adjacent to the spacer. In a second exemplary embodiment, the optical modulator includes at least one pair of active media, where the pair includes an oxide spacer, a first monolayer graphene sheet adjacent to a first side of the spacer, and a second monolayer graphene sheet adjacent to a second side of the spacer, and at least one optical waveguide adjacent to the pair.

First claim

We claim:

1. An optical modulator comprising:
an optical waveguide;
an oxide layer disposed on the optical waveguide;
a graphene sheet disposed on the oxide layer, the graphene sheet being selected from a group consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms and multiple layers of carbon atoms; and
an electrode in contact with the graphene sheet.

2. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a dielectric material.

3. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide.

4. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a plasmonic waveguide having a metallic structure configured to support propagating surface plasmon waves.

5. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide has a quality factor within a range selected from a group consisting of 10 to 100, 10 to 1000, 10 to 10000, 10 to 100000, and 10 to 1000000.

6. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the oxide layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, and silicon dioxide.

7. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a low Q optical cavity.

8. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a material that is doped.

9. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a transparent material.

10. The optical modulator of claim 9 , wherein the transparent material comprises a transparent polymer.

11. The optical modulator of claim 9 , wherein the transparent material comprises SU-8 photoresist.

12. The optical modulator of claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a nanoscale structure.

13. An optical modulator comprising:
an optical waveguide;
a first graphene sheet disposed on the optical waveguide;
a first electrode in contact with the first graphene sheet;
an oxide layer disposed on the first graphene sheet;
a second graphene sheet disposed on the oxide layer; and
a second electrode in contact with the second graphene sheet.

14. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide.

15. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the oxide layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, and silicon dioxide.

16. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a transparent material.

17. The optical modulator of claim 16 , wherein the transparent material comprises SU-8 photoresist.

18. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the optical waveguide comprises a material that is doped.

19. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the first graphene sheet and the second graphene sheet each comprise a a single layer of carbon atoms.

20. The optical modulator of claim 13 , wherein the first graphene sheet and the second graphene sheet each comprise multiple layers of carbon atoms.

Assignees

• Liu Ming
• Yin Xiaobo
• Zhang Xiang
• Univ California

Inventors

• Liu Ming
• Yin Xiaobo
• Zhang Xiang

Classifications

• G02F1/025 Primary

  in an optical waveguide structure (G02F1/017, {G02F1/2257} take precedence) · CPC title

• G02F2001/0156

  Physics · mapped topic

• G02F2202/02

  organic material · CPC title

• B82Y20/00

  Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals · CPC title

• G02F1/0156

  using free carrier absorption · CPC title