Active terahertz modulator and slow light metamaterial devices with hybrid graphene–superconductor photonic integrated circuits

Kalhor, S. et al. (2021) Active terahertz modulator and slow light metamaterial devices with hybrid graphene–superconductor photonic integrated circuits. Nanomaterials, 11(11), 2999. (doi: 10.3390/nano11112999)

Abstract

Metamaterial photonic integrated circuits with arrays of hybrid graphene–superconductor coupled split-ring resonators (SRR) capable of modulating and slowing down terahertz (THz) light are introduced and proposed. The hybrid device’s optical responses, such as electromagnetic-induced transparency (EIT) and group delay, can be modulated in several ways. First, it is modulated electrically by changing the conductivity and carrier concentrations in graphene. Alternatively, the optical response can be modified by acting on the device temperature sensitivity by switching Nb from a lossy normal phase to a low-loss quantum mechanical phase below the transition temperature (Tc) of Nb. Maximum modulation depths of 57.3% and 97.61% are achieved for EIT and group delay at the THz transmission window, respectively. A comparison is carried out between the Nb-graphene-Nb coupled SRR-based devices with those of Au-graphene-Au SRRs, and significant enhancements of the THz transmission, group delay, and EIT responses are observed when Nb is in the quantum mechanical phase. Such hybrid devices with their reasonably large and tunable slow light bandwidth pave the way for the realization of active optoelectronic modulators, filters, phase shifters, and slow light devices for applications in chip-scale future communication and computation systems.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: K.D., M.J.K., H.J.J., D.A.R. acknowledge funding from EPSRC (EP/S019324/1 MQIC). S.H. acknowledges funding from EPSRC (EP/P005152/1). S.K., R.W., H.B., R.D., D.A.R. acknowledge funding from EPSRC (EP/P021859/1 HyperTHz).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kalhor, Samane and Delfanazari, Dr Kaveh

Creator Roles

Delfanazari, K.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation
Kalhor, S.: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation

• Authors: Kalhor, S., Kindness, S. J., Wallis, R., Beere, H. E., Ghanaatshoar, M., Degl'Innocenti, R., Kelly, M. J., Hofmann, S., Joyce, H. J., Ritchie, D. A., and Delfanazari, K.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Nanomaterials
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2079-4991
• ISSN (Online): 2079-4991
• Published Online: 08 November 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Nanomaterials 11(11): 2999
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License