Integrated, ultrafast all‑optical polariton transistors with sub‑wavelength grating microcavities

AMO is pleased to highlight a new publication in the journal Light: Science & Applications from the Nature Portfolio. The article titled “Integrated, ultrafast all‑optical polariton transistors with sub‑wavelength grating microcavities” is the result of an excellent collaboration between AMO GmbH, RWTH Aachen University, IBM Research Europe in Zurich, the Photonics Laboratory at ETH Zurich, as well as the Macromolecular Chemistry Group and the Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials and Systems at Bergische Universität Wuppertal.

In this study, the research team demonstrates an important step toward scalable all‑optical logic circuits. The work shows exciton–polariton condensation at room temperature in integrated sub‑wavelength grating microcavities composed of silicon photonics and an organic pi‑conjugated polymer. The device architecture enables ultrafast optical switching and optical gain within an exceptionally small footprint.

The results include picosecond‑scale switching, optical amplification by a factor of sixty, and an extremely compact device area of two by two square micrometers. This makes the device a promising building block for future ultrafast photonic computing technologies.

AMO congratulates all contributing authors on this impressive scientific achievement. The work was supported by the EU projects H2020 FET‑Open PoLLoC and H2020 MSCA‑ITN AppQInfo.