Few-mode metal-free perovskite optical fibre with second-order optical nonlinearity

Abstract

Semiconductor core optical fibres are highly desirable for fibre-based photonic and optoelectronic applications as they can combine strong optical nonlinearities, tight light confinement, wide transmission bands, and electronic functionality within a single platform. Perovskites have emerged as particularly exciting materials for semiconductor photonics as they have strong optical nonlinearities and tunable optoelectronic band gaps. However, lead-based perovskites contain toxic elements and are therefore not environmentally friendly. Furthermore, in fibre form, their core-size is prohibitively large, making them unsuitable for nonlinear optics and applications that require single-mode guidance, such as telecommunications. Here, we report a metal-free perovskite core optical fibre where lead has been substituted
for an ammonium cation in the perovskite structure. The core material has a wide band gap greater than 5 eV, a high
laser damage threshold, and a core diameter that can be produced as small as 5 μm. At this core size the fibre supports
just six modes and the fundamental mode can readily be excited and isolated. Moreover, the metal-free perovskite
has a second-order susceptibility that is absent in the archetypal lead-based perovskites and many other semiconductor
core materials, such as silicon and germanium. The second-order susceptibility is important for many nonlinear optics
applications such as second-harmonic generation and quantum optics.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Graham J. Tizzard: orcid.org/0000-0002-1577-5779

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