IEF News 2017

Researchers at the IEF have developed the first opto-electronic circuit component that works without glass and is instead made of metal. The component, referred to as a modulator, converts electrical data signals into optical signals. It is smaller and faster than current modulators, and much easier and cheaper to make.

“At the new centre, we plan to pursue an innovative research approach that is based on our latest findings, which show that components with atomic dimensions not only work reliably, but are also more energy-efficient,” says Professor Juerg Leuthold.  

The article On-Chip Narrowband Thermal Emitter for Mid-IR Optical Gas Sensing by Alexander Lochbaum et. al. demonstrate a CMOS-compatible mid-infrared emitter with applications in the field of low-cost, optical, gas sensing.

The editors of the virtual feature issue "Organic and Polymeric Materials for Photonic Applications" elected the IEF article as “Editor’s Pick”. Their work showed that plasmonics allow to utilize a resonant enhancement to boost the performance of electro-optic modulators which cannot be utilized by photonic approaches.  

A metamaterial light source recently developed at the IEF is highlighted in the June issue of Nature Photonics.