Giant and ultrafast nonlinearity with ENZ Photonics

Abstract

Nonlinearity provides a key functionality for a plurality of devices, effects, and systems. In this talk I show that both all-optical and electro-optical nonlinearity can be strongly enhanced at the slow-light effect epsilon-near-zero (ENZ). I share our recent experimental demonstrations including (a) temporally tailoring ENZ nonlinearity (Optics Letters 2020), (b) spectrally 400nm broadband ENZ enhancement, (b) GHz-fast yet micrometer-compact electro-optic modulator within a MZI-Silicon-ITO hybrid platform (OPTICA 2020, Scientific Reports 2021), and (c) Kramers-Kronig-enhanced electro-absorption modulator (NANOPHOTONICS 2019). Together, these technologies show that monolithic integration of TCO into PICs provides functionality beyond Silicon photonics with application in datacom, sensing, and neuromorphic computing.