2D Tellurium Based High-Performance All-Optical Nonlinear Photonic Devices

Tellurium (Te), as one of the rarest stable solid elements far more common in the universe than on earth, is a p-type semiconductor with excellent optical properties. Herein, a novel two-dimensional (2D) Te nanosheets (Ns)-based air-stable nonlinear photonic devices: all-optical switcher and photonic diode, owing to its strong light-matter interaction in the visible-to-infrared band are reported. The findings validate that the proposed photonic diode can be utilized for the function of nonreciprocal light propagation in optical telecommunications or integrated photonics. Moreover, 2D Te-based light-modulate-light system is successfully designed to realize ON and OFF modes for all-optical switching operation. This work highlights a good promise of 2D Te in the field of nonlinear photonics, leading to an important step toward 2D Te-based advanced photonics devices. The versatile solution process allows a universal access of 2D Te as a new 2D material in a wider range of photonics device applications such as, detector, modulator, switcher, etc.