Nonlinear graphene metamaterial

TL;DR

This paper shows that coupling graphene with a plasmonic metamaterial significantly boosts its broadband nonlinear optical response, enabling efficient, ultrafast optical modulation for advanced photonic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to resonantly enhance graphene's nonlinear optical properties using hybridization with a plasmonic metamaterial, maintaining ultrafast response times.

Findings

Over an order of magnitude enhancement in nonlinear response.

Achieved ~1% transmission modulation at 1600 nm.

Maintained ultrafast ~1 ps response time.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the broadband nonlinear optical response of graphene can be resonantly enhanced by more than an order of magnitude through hybridization with a plasmonic metamaterial,while retaining an ultrafast nonlinear response time of ~1 ps. Transmission modulation close to ~1% is seen at a pump uence of ~0.03 mJ/cm^2 at the wavelength of ~1600 nm. This approach allows to engineer and enhance graphene's nonlinearity within a broad wavelength range enabling applications in optical switching, mode-locking and pulse shaping.