Research
Our research activities are mainly based on integrated waveguides.
Our aim is to develop a new platform based on Titanium dioxide (as a nonlinear material) for future optical networks working at 2 µm.
More generally, our research interests deal with colloidal quantum dots, rogue waves, modulational instabilities, nonlinear pulse shaping, plasmonics and frequency combs,
The emergence of 2 µm band will never replace the existing telecommunications bands. Therefore, we are interested in an alternative platform that could be make bridges between all bands from the interconnects band at 850 nm to standard telecommunication band at 1.55 µm passing through the band at 1.310 µm. This is why we focus our attention on the titanium dioxide that is transparent from the visible to the Mid-infrared with negligible two-photon absorption. This platform will be benchmarked by comparison with already used platform (SOI, Silicon nitride, silicon Germanium).
Nowadays, the communication traffic is inexorably increasing and the growing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment as well as the demand of high definition video content will not stop this trend. Unfortunately, it seems that we are reaching soon a 'capacity crunch'. To prevent it, radical approaches have to be adopted. The two best candidates are the space division multiplexing and the emergence of a new spectral band. The favorite band is around 2 µm thanks to the large amplification band of Thulium. It is likely that the interest for the 2 µm wavelength band increases because it seems to be the perfect candidate for the convergence of fibers, photonics and plasmonics.
The ohmic losses are lower at higher wavelength (2µm) in such a way that surface plasmon polariton (SPP) has longer propagation length. This length stays too low to expect efficient nonlinear effect required for nonlinear all-optical processing. This is why we work on hybrid waveguides that could take advantage of SPP confinement features.
More specifically, we are interested in CMOS plasmonics and in the use of colloidal quantum dots (in the visible).