Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Oct;7(10):640-5.
doi: 10.1038/nnano.2012.144. Epub 2012 Sep 2.

All-optical active switching in individual semiconductor nanowires

Brian Piccione  1 , Chang-Hee Cho, Lambert K van Vugt, Ritesh Agarwal
Affiliations

All-optical active switching in individual semiconductor nanowires

Brian Piccione et al. Nat Nanotechnol. 2012 Oct.

Abstract

The imminent limitations of electronic integrated circuits are stimulating intense activity in the area of nanophotonics for the development of on-chip optical components, and solutions incorporating direct-bandgap semiconductors are important in achieving this end. Optical processing of data at the nanometre scale is promising for circumventing these limitations, but requires the development of a toolbox of components including emitters, detectors, modulators, waveguides and switches. In comparison to components fabricated using top-down methods, semiconductor nanowires offer superior surface properties and stronger optical confinement. They are therefore ideal candidates for nanoscale optical network components, as well as model systems for understanding optical confinement. Here, we demonstrate all-optical switching in individual CdS nanowire cavities with subwavelength dimensions through stimulated polariton scattering, as well as a functional NAND gate built from multiple switches. The device design exploits the strong light-matter coupling present in these nanowires, leading to footprints that are a fraction of those of comparable silicon-based dielectric contrast and photonic crystal devices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Opt Express. 2010 Oct 11;18(21):22485-96 - PubMed
    1. Nano Lett. 2009 Apr;9(4):1684-8 - PubMed
    1. J Phys Chem A. 2011 Apr 28;115(16):3827-33 - PubMed
    1. Phys Rev Lett. 2000 Feb 14;84(7):1547-50 - PubMed
    1. Opt Express. 2007 Feb 5;15(3):924-9 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources