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Excitonic switches operating at around 100 K

Nature Photonics volume 3, pages 577–580 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Photonic and optoelectronic devices may offer the opportunity to realize efficient signal processing at speeds higher than in conventional electronic devices. Switches form the building blocks for circuits, and fast photonic switches have been realized1,2,3,4,5,6. Recently, a proof of principle demonstration of exciton optoelectronic devices was reported7,8. The potential advantages of excitonic devices include high operation and interconnection speed, small dimensions and the opportunity to combine many elements into integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate experimental proof of principle for the operation of excitonic switching devices at temperatures around 100 K. The devices are based on an AlAs/GaAs coupled quantum well structure and include the exciton optoelectronic transistor (EXOT), the excitonic bridge modulator (EXBM), and the excitonic pinch-off modulator (EXPOM). A two orders of magnitude increase in the operation temperature compared to earlier devices (1.5 K; refs 7,8) is achieved.

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Figure 1: Indirect excitons in electrostatic channels and anti-channels.
Figure 2: Transport length of indirect excitons in the AlAs/GaAs CQW.
Figure 3: EXOT operation at 85 K.
Figure 4: EXBM operation at 125 K.
Figure 5: EXPOM operation at 85 K.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by ARO and NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0319, California, USA

    G. Grosso, J. Graves, A. T. Hammack, A. A. High & L. V. Butov

  2. Materials Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, 93106-5050, California, USA

    M. Hanson & A. C. Gossard

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  1. G. Grosso
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  2. J. Graves
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  4. A. A. High
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  7. A. C. Gossard
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All authors contributed to the work presented in this paper.

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Correspondence to A. A. High.

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Grosso, G., Graves, J., Hammack, A. et al. Excitonic switches operating at around 100 K. Nature Photon 3, 577–580 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.166

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