Enhanced Supercontinuum Generation in Integrated Waveguides Incorporated with Graphene Oxide Films

Enhanced supercontinuum generation (SCG) is experimentally demonstrated in integrated silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguides incorporating highly nonlinear graphene oxide (GO) in the form of 2D films. On-chip integration of the 2D GO films with precise control of their thickness is realized by using a transfer-free and layer-by-layer coating method. The control of the film length and coating position is achieved via window opening in the upper silica cladding of the photonic integrated chips. Detailed SCG measurements are performed using the fabricated devices with different waveguide geometries and GO film thicknesses, and the results are compared with devices without GO. Significantly improved spectral broadening of ultrashort optical pulses with ultrahigh peak powers exceeding 1000 W is observed for the hybrid devices, achieving up to 2.4 times improvement in the spectral bandwidth relative to devices without GO. Theoretical analyses for the influence of GO film thickness, coating length, coating position, and waveguide geometry are also provided by fitting the experimental results with theory, showing that there is still significant room for further improvement. This work opens up a new avenue toward improving the SCG performance of photonic integrated devices by incorporating functional 2D materials.

Automated summary

Enhanced supercontinuum generation is achieved in silicon nitride waveguides by incorporating highly nonlinear graphene oxide films. The films are integrated on-chip using a transfer-free and layer-by-layer coating method. Detailed measurements demonstrate significantly improved spectral broadening, reaching up to 2.4 times improvement in bandwidth compared to devices without graphene oxide.