Complex effective index in graphene-silicon waveguides

We report for the first time and characterize experimentally the complex optical conductivity of graphene on silicon photonic waveguides. This permits us to predict accurately the behavior of photonic integrated devices encompassing graphene layers. Exploiting a Si microring add/drop resonator, we show the effect of electrical gating of graphene on the complex effective index of the waveguide by measuring both the wavelength shift of the resonance and the change in the drop peak transmission. Due to electro-refractive effect of graphene a giant (>10−3) change in the effective index is demonstrated for the first time on Si photonics waveguides and this large effect will crucially impact performances and consumption of Si photonics devices. We confirmed the results by two independent experiments involving two different gating schemes: Si gating through the ridge waveguide, and polymer-electrolyte gating. Both the experiments demonstrate a very large phase effect in good agreement with numerical calculations. The reported results validate the Kubo model for the case of graphene-Si photonics interfaces and for propagation in this type of waveguide. This is fundamental for the next design and fabrication of future graphene-silicon photonics devices.