EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Optical modulators are fundamental building blocks in a large variety of modern technological applications: phase, frequency, amplitude and polarization modulators such as electro-optic (EOM) and acousto-optic modulators (AOM) are widely used in fibre optic communication systems, ultrafast spectroscopy, metrology, active Q switching/mode locking of lasers and quantum information. The research and technological interest in optical modulators has further increased in concomitance with the progress in the field of integrated photonics with the ultimate goal to replace electrical interconnects with optical interconnects and provide faster response time, wider transmission bandwidth, and lower power consumption. In addition, novel functionalities for photonic circuits could be enabled by active modulation of nonlinear optical effects. Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials could be ideal for such applications. Thanks to their high mechanical flexibility, ease of fabrication and robustness, 2D materials have already been successfully integrated on waveguides, microdisks, microrings and fibres and different kinds of electro-optic, thermo-optic and magneto-optic modulators have been realized. Moreover, 2D materials display strong nonlinear optical response and are thus ideal to enhance the performances and functionalities of standard photonic devices and to allow all-optical modulation of light. In this talk I will discuss our current efforts towards the realization of electro-optical and all-optical nonlinear modulation of third and second harmonic generation in graphene and related layered materials.