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All-optical active switching in individual semiconductor nanowires

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 640–645 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The imminent limitations of electronic integrated circuits are stimulating intense activity in the area of nanophotonics for the development of on-chip optical components1, and solutions incorporating direct-bandgap semiconductors are important in achieving this end2. Optical processing of data3 at the nanometre scale is promising for circumventing these limitations, but requires the development of a toolbox of components including emitters, detectors, modulators, waveguides and switches. In comparison to components fabricated using top-down methods, semiconductor nanowires offer superior surface properties4 and stronger optical confinement5. They are therefore ideal candidates for nanoscale optical network components6, as well as model systems for understanding optical confinement7. Here, we demonstrate all-optical switching in individual CdS nanowire cavities with subwavelength dimensions through stimulated polariton scattering, as well as a functional NAND gate built from multiple switches. The device design exploits the strong light–matter coupling present in these nanowires, leading to footprints that are a fraction of those of comparable silicon-based dielectric contrast8,9 and photonic crystal10,11 devices.

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Figure 1: Creation of on-chip laser light sources for optical switching.
Figure 2: All-optical active switching in CdS nanowires.
Figure 3: Mechanism of switching phenomena in CdS nanowires.
Figure 4: All-optical nanowire NAND gate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Aspetti for assistance with calculations. This work was supported by the US Army Research Office (grant no. W911NF-09-1-0477 and W911NF-11-1-0024) and the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program (1-DP2-7251-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Brian Piccione, Chang-Hee Cho, Lambert K. van Vugt & Ritesh Agarwal

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  1. Brian Piccione
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  2. Chang-Hee Cho
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  3. Lambert K. van Vugt
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  4. Ritesh Agarwal
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Contributions

B.P. was responsible for the growth of nanowires, device fabrication and optical measurements. C-H.C. was responsible for growth and surface passivation of nanowires. L.K.v.V. aided in project conception, together with B.P. and R.A. R.A. supervised the research work and performed data analysis with B.P. All authors discussed the results and contributed to preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ritesh Agarwal.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Piccione, B., Cho, CH., van Vugt, L. et al. All-optical active switching in individual semiconductor nanowires. Nature Nanotech 7, 640–645 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.144

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