Optical devices with engineered nonlinear nanocomposite materials

• US 6,961,499 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2004
• Issued: 11/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: UltraDots, Inc. (Omnipv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pfenninger, William Matthew, Chin, Alan Hap, Lee, Howard Wing Hoon
• Primary Examiner(s): Ullah, Akm Enayet
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stein, James D.
• Application Number:
  US10/892,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20050058415A1
• Time in Patent Office: 473 Days
• Field of Search: 385/5, 385/27, 385/122
• US Class Current: 385/122
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: C25F 3/12 of semiconducting materials
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12097 Ridge, rib or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12145 Switch
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12147 Coupler
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12159 Interferometer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12195 Tapering
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/122 Basic optical elements, e.g. light-guiding paths
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/1225 comprising photonic band-gap structures or photonic lattices
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/356 in an optical cross-connect device, e.g. routing and switching aspects of interconnecting different paths propagating different wavelengths to (re)configure the various input and output links switching polarized beams G02B6/3594; power equalizers G02B6/356 and G02B6/3594; path selecting means H04Q11/0001
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/01791 Quantum boxes or quantum dots
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/217 Multimode interference type
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3515 All-optical modulation, gating, switching, e.g. control of a light beam by another light beam G02F1/353, G02F1/37, G02F1/39 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3517 using an interferometer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3521 using a directional coupler
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3556 Semiconductor materials, e.g. quantum wells
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/365 in an optical waveguide structure G02F1/377, G02F1/395 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2/006 All-optical wavelength conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/32 Photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/36 : Micro- or nanomaterials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/127 : Quantum box structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/16 : including, apart from doping materials or other impurities, only elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1602 : Diamond
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/20 : with a particular shape, e.g. curved or truncated substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/34 : containing only elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/834 : Optical properties of nanomaterial, e.g. specified transparency, opacity, or index of refraction

Abstract

The invention relates to an optical device. The optical device comprises a waveguide core and a nanocomposite material optically coupled to the waveguide core. The nanocomposite material includes a plurality of quantum dots. The nanocomposite material has a nonlinear index of refraction γ that is at least 10⁻⁹ cm²/W when irradiated with an activation light having a wavelength λ between approximately 3×10⁻⁵ cm and 2×10⁻⁴ cm.

Claims

1. An optical device comprising:

a film formed of a nanocomposite material, said nanocomposite material including a plurality of quantum dots, said nanocomposite material having a nonlinear index of refraction γ

that is at least 10<sup>−

9</sup> cm²/W when irradiated with an activation light having a wavelength λ

between approximately 3×

10<sup>−

5</sup> cm and 2×

10<sup>−

4</sup> cm; and

a light source optically coupled to said film, said light source being configured to irradiate said film with said activation light using a predetermined illumination pattern.

2. The optical device of claim 1, wherein γ

is at least 10<sup>−

8</sup> cm²/W.

3. The optical device of claim 1, wherein said nanocomposite material has a figure-of-merit that is at least 1, said figure-of-merit being defined as 2γ

/β

λ

, where β

is a two-photon absorption coefficient of said nanocomposite material expressed in cm/W.

4. The optical device of claim 3, wherein said figure-of-merit is at least 1.8.

5. The optical device of claim 1, wherein said light source includes an array of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers positioned adjacent to said film.