Opto-Excitonic Circuits: Processing Light with Matter

Progress of the current hybridized photon-electron communication technology has been slowed down by the limited efficiency of electrical interconnects. While optical interconnects is a viable solution, it falls short to offer an efficient long term solution, since logic operations will be performed using electrons. Optical interconnects in conjunction with excitonic circuits offer a plausible solution since it not only overcomes the losses and delays experienced by electrons but also benefits from seamless transformation between an exciton and a photon.
In my talk, I will discuss the importance of reconfigurable optical nanocavities for on-chip optical interconnects. In particular, I will talk on photonic crystal nanobeam cavities and discuss an all-optical reconfiguration technique based on optical gradient force. I will introduce the benefits of excitonic circuits and discuss a technique to visualize exciton diffusion, an important parameter for designing excitonic devices. I will also discuss an excitonic switch based on charged excitons (trions) in tungsten diselenide (WSe2) monolayer. Such opto-excitonic circuits open a new way to process information reaping the benefits of unprecedented energy efficiency offered by a photon as an information carrier.

Parag is a postdoctoral associate at the Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Laboratory (ONELab) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interest lies in understanding light – matter interaction in nanostructured materials for applications in data communications and life sciences. His work spans the area of optical nanocavities, cavity quantum electrodynamics, optomechanics, nanofabrication and optical interconnects. Parag received his BE degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Pune, India in 2004, MS degree from Texas A&M University in 2007 and PhD from Harvard University in 2012.