Perspective: Nanophotonic electro-optics enabling THz bandwidths, exceptional modulation and energy efficiencies, and compact device footprints

The growth of integrated photonics has driven the need for efficient, high-bandwidth electrical-to-optical (EO) signal conversion over a broad range of frequencies (MHz–THz), together with efficient, high bandwidth photodetection. Efficient signal conversion is needed for applications including fiber/wireless telecom, data centers, sensing/imaging, metrology/spectroscopy, autonomous vehicle platforms, etc., as well as cryogenic supercomputing/quantum computing. Diverse applications require the ability to function over a wide range of environmental conditions (e.g., temperatures from 400 K). Active photonic device footprints are being scaled toward nanoscopic dimensions for size compatibility with electronic elements. Nanophotonic devices increase optical and RF field confinement via small feature sizes, increasing field intensities by many orders of magnitude, enabling high-performance Pockels effect materials to be ultimately utilized to their maximum potential (e.g., in-device voltage-length performance ≤0.005 V mm). Organic materials have recently exhibited significant improvements in performance driven by theory-guided design, with realized macroscopic electro-optic activity (r33) exceeding 1000 pm/V at telecom wavelengths. Hybrid organic/semiconductor nanophotonic integration has propelled the development of new organic synthesis, processing, and design methodologies to capture this high performance and has improved understanding of the spatial distribution of the order of poled materials under confinement and the effects of metal/semiconductor-organic interfaces on device performance. Covalent coupling, whether from in situ crosslinking or sequential synthesis, also provides a thermally and photochemically stable alternative to thermoplastic EO polymers. The alternative processing techniques will reduce the attenuation of r33 values observed in silicon organic hybrid and plasmonic organic hybrid devices arising from chromophore-electrode electrostatic interactions and material conductance at poling temperatures. The focus of this perspective is on materials, with an emphasis on the need to consider the interrelationship between hybrid device architectures and materials.