According to a report by the Physicist Network on the 16th, researchers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the UK have developed a full-light diode that can be used in miniature photonic circuits and is expected to provide low-cost photonics chips. Efficient photodiodes have an important impact on areas such as photonic chips and photonic communication.
Xiao Yunfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Modern Optics at Peking University, explained to the Science and Technology Daily reporter: "Diodes can transmit current in one direction but block reverse current. They are the basic components of almost all electronic circuits, but existing optical diodes need to be large. Block magneto-optical crystals have seriously hindered their integration on the micro-nano scale and become one of the major challenges in the field of integrated photonics."
In the new study, the team led by Dr. Pascal Del Haier launched the light into a microresonator (a glass microring on a silicon chip). Although the diameter of the microring is only comparable to that of a human hair, it allows light to travel back and forth within the microring. Using the micro-ring-enhanced optical Kerr effect, the team created a new all-optical diode. The new diode can only transmit light in one direction and can be integrated into the micro-nano photonic circuit, thus overcoming the limitation that diodes require large magneto-optical crystals.
Del Haier stressed: "These diodes are expected to provide inexpensive and efficient photodiodes for low-light chips, and will also pave the way for new integrated photonic circuits that can be used in optical computing, and may have a major impact on future photonic communication systems."
It is reported that Chinese scientists have also achieved good results in this field. For example, Dr. Dong Chunhua from the University of Science and Technology of China used microcavity light interaction to obtain a non-reciprocal microcavity device with all-light control, including all-optical diodes and circulators. Wait.
Xiao Yunfeng said: "Although the latest research is not the first all-optical diode, the obtained device has the characteristics of simple operation and high isolation. It is a promising solution. Of course, similar to the existing all-optical diode scheme, based on resonance The all-optical diodes of the cavity often have bandwidth limitations and can only operate in a narrower resonant mode. Further research is needed in the future to break through the limitations."
