Elastic Gallium Phosphide Nanowire Optical Waveguides —Versatile Subwavelength Platform for Integrated Photonics

GaP nanowire optical properties are studied in detail to demonstrate the pathways for fabrication of low-loss and subwavelength waveguides for visible and near-infrared ranges. The nanowires exhibit perfect elasticity and stable waveguiding demonstrated via fabrication of an optical X-coupler. The results of the work unveil feasibility for GaP nanowires implementation as elements of advanced photonic schemes. AbstractEmerging technologies for integrated optical circuits demand novel approaches and materials. This includes a search for nanoscale waveguides that should satisfy criteria of high optical density, small cross-section, technological feasibility and structural perfection. All these criteria are met with self-assembled gallium phosphide (GaP) epitaxial nanowires. In this work, the effects of the nanowire geometry on their waveguiding properties are studied both experimentally and numerically. Cut-off wavelength dependence on the nanowire diameter is analyzed to demonstrate the pathways for fabrication of low-loss and subwavelength cross-section waveguides for visible and near-infrared (IR) ranges. Probing the waveguides with a supercontinuum laser unveils the filtering properties of the nanowires due to their resonant action. The nanowires exhibit perfect elasticity allowing fabrication of curved waveguides. It is demonstrated that for the nanowire diameters exceeding the cut-off value, the bending does not sufficiently reduce the field confinement promoting applicabi...

Source: Small - May 13, 2023 Category: Nanotechnology Authors: Alexey Kuznetsov, Eduard Moiseev, Artem N. Abramov, Nikita Fominykh, Vladislav A. Sharov, Valeriy M. Kondratev, Ivan I. Shishkin, Konstantin P. Kotlyar, Demid A. Kirilenko, Vladimir V. Fedorov, Svetlana A. Kadinskaya, Alexandr A. Vorobyev, Iva Tags: Research Article Source Type: research