Ultrafast electrical control of dipolariton-based optical circuits with a few femto-joul per bit power consumption

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates ultrafast electrical control of waveguide exciton-dipolaritons with record-low energy consumption, enabling scalable, reconfigurable photonic circuits for quantum and classical computing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel waveguide-dipolariton device functioning as an optical transistor with GHz modulation and extremely low power use, advancing photonic circuit technology.

Findings

Achieved electrical modulation at GHz rates

Recorded energy consumption of approximately 3 femtojoules per bit

Device area as small as 25 micrometers squared

Abstract

The next generation of photonic circuits will require programmable, ultrafast, and energy-efficient components on a scalable platform for quantum and neuromorphic computing. Here, we present ultrafast electrical control of highly nonlinear light-matter hybrid quasi-particles, called waveguide exciton-dipolaritons, with extremely low power consumption. Our device performs as an optical transistor with a GHz-rate electrical modulation at a record-low total energy consumption $\sim$3 fJ/bit and a compact active area of down to 25 $\mu$m$^2$. This work establishes waveguide-dipolariton platforms for scalable, electrically reconfigurable, ultra-low power photonic circuits for both classical and quantum computing and communication.