Asymmetric photon transport in organic semiconductor nanowires through electrically controlled exciton diffusion

Qiu Hong Cui, Qian Peng, Yi Luo, Yuqian Jiang, Yongli Yan, Cong Wei, Zhigang Shuai, Cheng Sun, Jiannian Yao, Yong Sheng Zhao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

The ability to steer the flow of light toward desired propagation directions is critically important for the realization of key functionalities in optical communication and information processing. Although various schemes have been proposed for this purpose, the lack of capability to incorporate an external electric field to effectively tune the light propagation has severely limited the on-chip integration of photonics and electronics. Because of the noninteractive nature of photons, it is only possible to electrically control the flow of light by modifying the refractive index of materials through the electro-optic effect. However, the weak optical effects need to be strongly amplified for practical applications in high-density photonic integrations. We show a new strategy that takes advantage of the strong exciton-photon coupling in active waveguides to effectively manipulate photon transport by controlling the interaction between excitons and the external electric field. Single-crystal organic semiconductor nanowires were used to generate highly stable Frenkel exciton polaritons with strong binding and diffusion abilities. By making use of directional exciton diffusion in an external electric field, we have realized an electrically driven asymmetric photon transport and thus directional light propagation in a single nanowire. With this new concept, we constructed a dualoutput single wire-based device to build an electrically controlled single-pole double-Throw optical switch with fast temporal response and high switching frequency. Our findings may lead to the innovation of concepts and device architectures for optical information processing.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbereaap9861
JournalScience Advances
Volume4
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 16 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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