Photonic devices are hardware systems that can process information using light instead of electricity. These systems could potentially perform computations faster than electronic devices, while also consuming less energy.
A key challenge faced by engineers developing photonic systems is achieving strong optical nonlinearities, or in other words, developing approaches that enable the control of light signals using light, all while consuming little power. A proposed solution to attain these light-light interactions entails the use of exciton polaritons, hybrid particles that are formed when photons couple with excitons (i.e., bound pairs of electrons and holes inside semiconductors).
Researchers at University of Pennsylvania and Montana State University recently introduced a new photonic system that enables the reliable control of light signals using light.
Their proposed device, introduced in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, combines the 2D semiconducting material molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) with a photonic crystal nanocavity, a structure that tightly confines light.
"Our primary motivation was to advance the field of all-optical computing—a long-standing dream of building systems that process information using light instead of electricity," Li He, Assistant Professor at Montana State University and senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.
"Because light travels faster and generates less heat than moving electrons, these systems could be significantly more powerful and energy-efficient than today's electronic chips. However, to make this a reality, we faced a fundamental challenge: photons (i.e., light particles) typically do not interact with one another."
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