Graphene-based side-polished optical fiber amplifier.

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

• Traditional optical fiber amplifiers face limitations in tunability and gain efficiency.
• Graphene's unique optoelectronic properties present opportunities for novel amplifier designs.
• Side-polished optical fibers offer enhanced light-matter interaction for active medium integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a novel optical fiber amplifier design using graphene as the active medium.
• To investigate the impact of electrically induced graphene p-i-n heterojunctions on optical modes.
• To achieve tunable wideband amplification for wavelengths exceeding 1000 nm.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of side-polished optical fibers with a single-layer graphene overlay.
• Implementation of carrier injection via forward bias in a graphene p-i-n heterojunction.
• Characterization of optical gain at various wavelengths (1064, 1330, 1550 nm) and polished depths.

Main Results:

• Achieved gain values of 0.51, 1.81, and 1.79 dB/cm for single-mode fibers at 1064, 1330, and 1550 nm, respectively.
• Observed higher gain for higher-order modes in multi-mode fibers.
• Demonstrated that increasing polished depth enhances optical gain.

Conclusions:

• The proposed graphene-based optical fiber amplifier is a viable tunable wideband solution.
• Electrically controlled graphene heterojunctions effectively provide optical gain.
• The design shows promise for advanced optical communication and sensing applications.