Waveguide-integrated optical modulators with two-dimensional materials

Waveguide-integrated optical modulators are indispensable for on-chip optical interconnects and optical computing.To cope with the ever-increasing amount of data being generated and consumed,ultrafast waveguide-integrated optical modulators with low energy consumption are highly demanded.In recent years,two-dimensional(2D)materials have attracted a lot of attention and have provided tremendous opportunities for the development of high-performance waveguide-integrated optical modulators because of their extraordinary optoelectronic properties and versatile compatibility.This paper reviews the state-of-the-art waveguide-integrated optical modulators with 2D materials,providing researchers with the developing trends in the field and allowing them to identify existing challenges and promising potential solutions.First,the concept and fundamental mechanisms of optical modulation with 2D materials are summarized.Second,a review of waveguide-integrated optical modulators employing electro-optic,all-optic,and thermo-optic effects is provided.Finally,the challenges and perspectives of waveguide-integrated modulators with 2D materials are discussed.

Ultracompact silicon on-chip polarization controller

On-chip polarization controllers are extremely important for various optical systems.In this paper,a compact and robust silicon-based on-chip polarization controller is proposed and demonstrated by integrating a special polarization converter and phase shifters.The special polarization converter consists of a 1×1 Mach–Zehnder interferometer with two polarization-dependent mode converters at the input/output ends.When light with an arbitrary state of polarization(SOP)is launched into the chip,the TE_(0)and TM_(0)modes are simultaneously excited.The polarization extinction ratio(PER)and the phase difference for the TE_(0)∕TM_(0)modes are tuned by controlling the first phase shifter,the polarization converter,and the second phase shifter.As a result,one can reconstruct the light SOP at the output port.The fabricated polarization controller,as compact as~150μm×700μm,exhibits an excess loss of less than 1 dB and a record PER range of>54 dB for arbitrary input light beams in the wavelength range of 1530–1620 nm.