Ultrawide bandwidth and sensitive electro-optic modulator based on a graphene nanoelectromechanical system with superlubricity

Electro-optic modulation based on a graphene nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) with super-lubricity is proposed and systematically theoretical investigated. We demonstrate that the superlubricity greatly improve the performance of photoelectric modulators based on graphene NEMS due to its extremely low coefficient of friction. The modulation voltage of graphene NEMS electro-optic modulation with superlubricity can be reduced to 200 mV, which is 1-3 orders of magnitude larger lower than that of the traditional electro-optical modulator, giving rise to a dramatic reduction of the power consumption of the modulator by approximately 3 orders of magnitude. The modulation response speed can reach nanoseconds, which is 4 orders of magnitude higher than the speed of traditional mechanical electro-optic modulation. At the same time, this modulator has a very wide modulation wavelength range and is not sensitive to the angle of incident light. Two-dimensional material devices, incorporated with mechanical modulation and superlubricity, will have important applications in optoelectronics and optical communication. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The electro-optic modulation based on graphene NEMS with super-lubricity demonstrates significantly improved performance with reduced power consumption and faster response speed. It has a wide modulation wavelength range and is not sensitive to the angle of incident light, making it suitable for optoelectronics and optical communication applications.