Femtosecond optical polarization switching using a cadmium oxide-based perfect absorber

Yuanmu Yang; Kyle Kelley; Edward Sachet; Salvatore Campione; Ting S. Luk; Jon Paul Maria; Michael B. Sinclair; Igal Brener

doi:10.1038/nphoton.2017.64

Femtosecond optical polarization switching using a cadmium oxide-based perfect absorber

Yuanmu Yang, Kyle Kelley, Edward Sachet, Salvatore Campione, Ting S. Luk, Jon Paul Maria, Michael B. Sinclair, Igal Brener

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

265 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ultrafast control of the polarization state of light may enable a plethora of applications in optics, chemistry and biology. However, conventional polarizing elements, such as polarizers and waveplates, are either static or possess only gigahertz switching speeds. Here, with the aid of high-mobility indium-doped cadmium oxide (CdO) as the gateway plasmonic material, we realize a high-quality factor Berreman-type perfect absorber at a wavelength of 2.08 μm. On sub-bandgap optical pumping, the perfect absorption resonance strongly redshifts because of the transient increase of the ensemble-averaged effective electron mass of CdO, which leads to an absolute change in the p-polarized reflectance from 1.0 to 86.3%. By combining the exceedingly high modulation depth with the polarization selectivity of the perfect absorber, we experimentally demonstrate a reflective polarizer with a polarization extinction ratio of 91 that can be switched on and off within 800 fs.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	390-395
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Photonics
Volume	11
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2017.64
State	Published - Jun 1 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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10.1038/nphoton.2017.64

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abstract = "Ultrafast control of the polarization state of light may enable a plethora of applications in optics, chemistry and biology. However, conventional polarizing elements, such as polarizers and waveplates, are either static or possess only gigahertz switching speeds. Here, with the aid of high-mobility indium-doped cadmium oxide (CdO) as the gateway plasmonic material, we realize a high-quality factor Berreman-type perfect absorber at a wavelength of 2.08 μm. On sub-bandgap optical pumping, the perfect absorption resonance strongly redshifts because of the transient increase of the ensemble-averaged effective electron mass of CdO, which leads to an absolute change in the p-polarized reflectance from 1.0 to 86.3%. By combining the exceedingly high modulation depth with the polarization selectivity of the perfect absorber, we experimentally demonstrate a reflective polarizer with a polarization extinction ratio of 91 that can be switched on and off within 800 fs.",

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AU - Sachet, Edward

AU - Campione, Salvatore

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AU - Maria, Jon Paul

AU - Sinclair, Michael B.

AU - Brener, Igal

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Femtosecond optical polarization switching using a cadmium oxide-based perfect absorber

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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