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arXiv · 1409.3147

Nonreciprocal transmission in a photonic-crystal Fano structure enabled by symmetry breaking

Abstract

Nanostructures that feature nonreciprocal light transmission are highly desirable building blocks for realizing photonic integrated circuits. Here, a simple and ultra-compact photonic-crystal structure, where a waveguide is coupled to a single nanocavity, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, showing very efficient optical diode functionality. The key novelty of the structure is the use of a Fano resonance in combination with spatial symmetry breaking and cavity enhanced material nonlinearities to realize non-reciprocal propagation effects at ultra-low power and with a good wavelength tunability. The nonlinearity of the device relies on ultrafast carrier dynamics, rather than the thermal effects usually considered, allowing the demonstration of nonreciprocal operation at a bit-rate of 10 Gbit/s with a low energy consumption of 4.5 fJ/bit.

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Yi Yu, Yaohui Chen, Hao Hu, Weiqi Xue, Kresten Yvind, Jesper Mørk. 2014-09-10. Nonreciprocal transmission in a photonic-crystal Fano structure enabled by symmetry breaking. https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.3147

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