Graphene-based integrated photonics for next-generation datacom and telecom

Graphene is an ideal material for optoelectronic applications. The photonic properties of graphene reveal several advantages and complementarities compared with Si photonics. For example, graphene exhibits electro-absorption modulation, electro-refraction modulation with an electro-optical index change exceeding 10−3, switchable optical add-drop multiplexing based on electro-absorption switch-off and thermoelectric-based ultrafast optical detection that may generate a voltage without a trans-impedance amplifier. In this Review, we present our vision for graphene-based integrated photonics. We review state-of-the-art graphene-based transceivers and compare these devices with existing technologies. Strategies for improving power consumption, manufacturability and wafer-scale integration are addressed. Also, we outline a roadmap of the technological requirements for the demands of the datacom and telecom markets and show that graphene-based integrated photonics could enable ultra-high spatial density, low power consumption for board connectivity and connectivity between data centres, access networks, metropolitan, core, regional and long-haul optical communications.