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Amorphous silicon nanowires combining high nonlinearity, FOM and optical stability
C Grillet1, L Carletti, C Monat
1Institute of Photonics and Optical Sciences and CUDOS, School of Physics, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. grillet@physics.usyd.edu.au
Optics Express
|October 6, 2012
Summary
Optically stable amorphous silicon nanowires exhibit a high nonlinear figure of merit (FOM) and nonlinearity. These properties remained stable even under high optical power conditions for extended durations.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optoelectronics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is a promising material for nonlinear optics.
- Developing stable and efficient a-Si-based photonic devices is crucial for integrated photonics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate optically stable amorphous silicon nanowires.
- To characterize their nonlinear optical properties and performance under high optical power.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of amorphous silicon nanowires.
- Optical characterization of nonlinear figure of merit (FOM) and nonlinearity.
- Stability testing under high coupled peak power (2 W, ~2 GW/cm²).
Main Results:
- Achieved high nonlinear figure of merit (FOM) of approximately 5.
- Measured high nonlinearity with Re(γ) = 1200 W⁻¹m⁻¹.
- Observed no degradation in optical stability and nonlinear parameters over an hour of testing at high power.
Conclusions:
- Amorphous silicon nanowires offer excellent optical stability.
- Demonstrated potential for high-performance nonlinear photonic applications.
- Stable operation under high power density opens avenues for device integration.
