Light Emission in Silicon from Carbon Nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the integration of carbon nanotubes with silicon waveguides, enabling temperature-independent light emission at 1.3 μm, advancing silicon photonics technology.

Contribution

First successful integration of carbon nanotubes with silicon waveguides, showing their emission and absorption properties in silicon photonics.

Findings

Achieved temperature-independent emission at 1.3 μm

Demonstrated coupling of nanotubes with silicon waveguides

Paved the way for nanotube-based silicon photonics

Abstract

The use of optics in microelectronic circuits to overcome the limitation of metallic interconnects is more and more considered as a viable solution. Among future silicon compatible materials, carbon nanotubes are promising candidates thanks to their ability to emit, modulate and detect light in the wavelength range of silicon transparency. We report the first integration of carbon nanotubes with silicon waveguides, successfully coupling their emission and absorption properties. A complete study of this coupling between carbon nanotubes and silicon waveguides was carried out, which led to the demonstration of the temperature-independent emission from carbon nanotubes in silicon at a wavelength of 1.3 {\mu}m. This represents the first milestone in the development of photonics based on carbon nanotubes on silicon.