From Event: SPIE OPTO, 2018
Black phosphorus stands out from the family of two-dimensional materials as a semiconductor with a direct, layer-dependent bandgap in energy corresponding to the spectral range from the visible to the mid-infrared (mid-IR), as well as many other attractive optoelectronic attributes. It is, therefore, a very promising material for various optoelectronic applications, particularly in the important mid-IR range. While mid-IR technology has been advancing rapidly, both photodetection and electro-optic modulation in the mid-IR rely on narrow-band compound semiconductors, which are difficult and expensive to integrate with the ubiquitous silicon photonics. For mid-IR photodetection, black phosphorus has been proven to be a viable alternative. Here, we demonstrate electro-optic modulation of mid-IR absorption in few-layer black phosphorus under field applied by an electrostatic gate. Our experimental and theoretical results find that, within the doping range obtainable in our samples, the quantum confined Franz-Keldysh effect is the dominant mechanism of electro-optic modulation. Spectroscopic study on samples with varying thickness reveals strong layer-dependence in the inter-band transition between different sub-bands. Our results show black phosphorus is a very promising material to realizing efficient mid-IR modulators.
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Ruoming Peng, Kaveh Khaliji, Nathan Youngblood, Roberto Grassi , Tony Low, and Mo Li, "Mid-infrared electro-optic modulation in few-layer black phosphorus (Conference Presentation)," Proc. SPIE 10534, 2D Photonic Materials and Devices, 105340J (Presented at SPIE OPTO: January 30, 2018; Published: 14 March 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2294528.5751536501001.