Optical Diode Action from Axially Asymmetric Nonlinearity in an All-Carbon Solid-State Device

Nanostructured carbons are posited to offer an alternative to silicon and lead to further miniaturization of photonic and electronic devices. Here, we report the experimental realization of the first all-carbon solid-state optical diode that is based on axially asymmetric nonlinear absorption in a thin saturable absorber (graphene) and a thin reverse saturable absorber (C-60 arranged in tandem. This all-optical diode action is polarization independent and has no phase-matching constraints. The nonreciprocity factor of the device can be tuned by varying the number of graphene layers and the concentration or thickness of the C60 coating. This ultracompact graphene/C-60 based optical diode is versatile with an inherently large bandwidth, chemical and thermal stability, and is poised for cost-effective large-scale integration with existing fabrication technologies.