Performance of integrated optical switches based on 2D materials and beyond

Abstract

Applications of optical switches, such as signal routing and data-intensive computing, are critical in optical interconnects and optical computing. Integrated optical switches enabled by two-dimensional (2D) materials and beyond, such as graphene and black phosphorus, have demonstrated many advantages in terms of speed and energy consumption compared to their conventional silicon-based counterparts. Here we review the state-of-the-art of optical switches enabled by 2D materials and beyond and organize them into several tables. The performance tables and future projections show the frontiers of optical switches fabricated from 2D materials and beyond, providing researchers with an overview of this field and enabling them to identify existing challenges and predict promising research directions.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

two-dimensional (2D) materials / integrated optics / optical switches / performance table

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (No. 2018YFB2201901) and in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61805090).

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