Asymmetric Laser Field Interaction with MXene Coated on the Side Surface of Optical Fibers for Ultrafast Nonlinear Switches

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 16; no. 7; pp. 9137 - 9143
• Main Authors: Uddin, Siam, Debnath, Pulak C., Kim, Hyerim, Moon, Hyowon, Koo, Chong Min, Song, Yong-Won
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 21.02.2024
• Subjects: Functional Nanostructured Materials (including low-D carbon); side-polished fiber; optical nonlinearity; ultrafast optical switching; four-wave-mixing; MXene
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c17033

In recent years, there has been significant interest in researching ultrafast nonlinear optical phenomena involving light-matter interactions in two-dimensional (2D) materials, owing to their potential applications in optics and photonics. MXene, a recently developed 2D material, has garnered considerable attention due to its graphene-like properties and highly tunable electronic/optical characteristics. Herein, we demonstrate ultrafast all-optical switches based on four-wave-mixing (FWM) utilizing the nonlinear optical property of MXene Ti3C2T x . In order to realize the device, we deposited multilayered Ti3C2T x in the form of a supernatant solution onto the polished surface of a side-polished optical fiber, enabling the interaction of Ti3C2T x with the asymmetric evanescent field of the incident input. We systematically characterized the nonlinear optical responses derived from the Ti3C2T x layers. The fabricated device exhibits notable performance metrics, an enhancement of the extinction ratio, and a conversion efficiency of the newly generated signal, displaying 5.3 and 5.2 dB, respectively. Additionally, the device operates at high modulation frequencies, reaching up to 20 GHz, and demonstrates high-resolution detuning with channel distances of up to 15 nm. Our findings highlight the potential of MXene-based materials for ultrafast optical data management systems.