Graphene-based polymer waveguide polarizer

Jin Tae Kim* and Choon-Gi Choi1

Creative Research Center for Graphene Electronics, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI),
Daejeon 305-700, South Korea
1
cgchoi@etri.re.kr
*
jintae@etri.re.kr

Abstract: Planar-lightwave-circuit (PLC)-type graphene polarizers are

fabricated by using a low loss optical polymer waveguide. The optical
characteristics are investigated at a wavelength of 1.31 µm. By interface
engineering with a UV-curable perfluorinated acrylate polymer resin, the
graphene’s electrical properties are tuned to support a transverse-magnetic
(TM) or transverse-electric (TE) surface wave. Thus, the fabricated PLC-
type graphene polarizer serves alternatively as a TM-pass or TE-pass
polarizer depending on the absence or presence of the upper-cladding layer.
The proposed planar-type graphene polarizer can be exploited further for
on-chip photonic integrated circuit and devices.
©2012 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (130.3120) Integrated optics devices; (160.4236) Nanomaterials; (230.7370)
Waveguides.

References and links

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#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
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1. Introduction
Graphene, a flat monolayer of carbon atoms packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb
lattice, has attracted a great attention in photonics and electronics [1, 2]. Graphene’s
extraordinary electron mobility has been allowed to develop high-speed complementary metal
oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors [3–5]. Numerous graphen-based photonic devices
have been also investigated to date. Graphene has been used as a transparent conductor for
photovoltaic devices, organic light emitting diodes, and touch screens [6–8]. For development
of novel optical communication components and systems, graphene-based high-speed optical
photo-detector (PD) and modulator have been demonstrated [9, 10]. Based on the graphene’s
ability to guide electromagnetic waves, graphene polarizer has been investigated using
conventional optical fiber [11]. Very recently, a graphene-based plasmonic waveguide has
been demonstrated its ability to transmit optical data of 2.5 Gbps [12]. With an aid of
graphene’s linear dispersion between energy and momentum, these devices work in much
broader wavelength range.
For development of on-chip photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and CMOS-compatible
next-generation PICs, all photonic components should provide high compatibility with other
functional planar optical waveguide devices on a single chip. Fortunately, graphene has a high
compatibility to conventional CMOS devices and fabrication processes [2, 9–11]. Compared
to metal, the functionality (e.g. conductivity) of graphene can be modified by means of
chemical doping, electric filed, magnetic field, and/or gate bias voltage [13–15]. Therefore,
graphene hold huge potential for the development of novel next-generation convergence
optoelectronic components if we take numerous extraordinary advantages of graphene’s
optical and electrical characteristics.
As an extended application of graphene in photonics, we developed polymer-based planar-
lightwave-circuit (PLC)-type graphene polarizer and the optical characteristics were
investigated at a wavelength of 1.31 µm. An interface engineering with a UV-curable
perfluorinated acrylate polymer resin tunes graphene’s electrical properties such as
conductivity and carrier density. This modification leads graphene to support a transverse-
magnetic (TM) or transverse-electric (TE) surface wave alternatively. Thus, the fabricated
PLC-type graphene polarizer serves alternatively as a TM-pass or TE-pass polarizer
depending on the absence or presence of the upper-cladding layer.
2. Experiment and discussions
Schematic views of the proposed PLC-type graphene polarizers are shown in Fig. 1. The
proposed waveguide polarizer consists of an under-cladding, a core with a rectangular cross-
section, and a graphene strip that is placed on the waveguide core, as shown in Fig. 1(a). The
refractive indices of the cladding and core are 1.37 and 1.39, respectively. The waveguide
thickness is 5 μm and its width ranges from 5 to 9 μm. Since the upper side of the waveguide
is opened to air, the waveguide structure is an air-cladding waveguide. In order to tune the
electrical characteristics of the graphene strip on the waveguide core, a UV-curable polymer
rein having the same refractive index of the under-cladding is formed additionally, as shown
in Fig. 1(b).

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3557
 To fabricate the proposed graphene-based polymeric waveguide polarizer, we used a
commercial UV-curable polymer, Exguide LFR from ChemOptics (www.chemoptics.co.kr).
The propagation loss and the birefringence (nTE – nTM) of the optical polymer material at a
wavelength of 1.31 μm are 0.06 dB/cm and 0.0003, respectively. First, 20 µm-thick under-
cladding layer is spin-coated on a silicon wafer, and then cured with UV light. Subsequently,
the core material was dispensed on the under-cladding to form 5 μm-thick cores and cured
with UV light. Graphene film grown by a thermal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method
using 300 nm-thick Ni sputtered on SiO2/Si substrates is transferred mechanically on the core
layer. Then, the waveguide cores are fabricated by the O 2 plasma reactive ion etch process by
using photoresist (PR) etching mask that is defined by a standard photo-lithographic
technique. Finally, convex straight waveguide cores with a graphene strip are obtained. After
finishing the measurement of the optical characteristics of the air-cladding polymer-based
graphene polarizer, the under-clad materials were spin-coated additionally to form the upper-
cladding layer. Then, the optical properties of the modified graphene polarizer are measured
again.
Figure 2 shows the fabricated polymer-based PLC-type graphene polarizer and the Raman
shift of the graphene on the SiO2. As shown in Fig. 2(a), a graphene strip is placed on the
waveguide core. The length of the fabricated graphene polarizer is 10 mm. The graphene strip
is located at the center of the waveguide core and its length is about 7 mm. Figure 2(b)
exhibits representative Raman spectra with a 532 nm excitation laser. The detection of the G
peak (1,580 cm1) and the 2D peak (2,700 cm1) corresponds the presence of graphene film
[16]. Based on the 2D/G intensity ratios obtained from several different locations in a
transferred graphene film, we concluded that the CVD-grown graphene film consists of
various domains having 1 to ~10 layers of graphene [17]. Although there are several
discontinuities with gaps, ripples, wrinkles, and contaminants in the transferred graphene, a
graphene film with a good crystalline quality was successfully synthesized and transferred to
the polymer dielectric.
To investigate the characteristics of the fabricated polymer-based PLC-type graphene
polarizers, the TE- or TM-polarization light is launched at the input facet of the fabricated
waveguides by using a single-mode polarization maintaining fiber (PMF). The infrared
images of the guided mode were measured by a charge-coupled device (CCD). After
measuring the infrared images, the output light were collected by a PMF, and the transmitted
powers were measured with an optical power meter to evaluate insertion loss.

Fig. 1. Concept of a polymer-based planar-lightwave-circuit (PLC)-type graphene polarizer. (a)

A CVD-grown graphene strip is placed on the waveguide core. Because the graphene strip with
an air-cladding supports a TE-mode surface wave, the polarizer serves as a TE-pass polarizer.
(b) The waveguide is covered with a UV-curable polymer resin and the electrical properties of
the graphene strip are tuned to support a TM-mode surface wave. Thus, the waveguide serves
as a TM-pass polarizer.

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3558
 Fig. 2. The fabricated polymer-based PLC-type graphene polarizer and the Raman shift of the
graphene.

Figure 3 exhibits the measured infrared images at the output port of the fabricated
waveguide polarizer depending on the polarization. For the air-cladding graphene polarizer,
the intensity of the TE-polarization light is brighter than that of the TM-polarization light
(Fig. 3(a)). This means that the air-cladding waveguide polarizer works as a TE-pass
polarizer. On the contrary, a brighter light spot is obtained with the TM-polarization light for
the modified graphene polarizer whose up-side is covered with a UV-curable polymer resin
(the upper-cladding). The light intensity of the TE-polarization light is dimly visible, as
shown in Fig. 3(b). A slab mode is observed because of the subtle refractive index difference
between the under- and upper-cladding layers. This means that the waveguide serves as a TM-
pass polarizer.
To investigate the characteristics of the detected guided mode further, we measured the
insertion loss of the fabricated waveguide polarizers. Figure 4(a) and 4(b) exhibits the
insertion loss of the two different graphene polarizer depending on the polarization and the
waveguide width. The insertion loss includes the propagation loss of 0.6 dB/cm and coupling
loss of about 0.5 dB/facet for both TM- and TE-polarization. For a polymer waveguide
without graphene strip on the waveguide core, the averaged insertion loss and the extinction
ratio are 1.5 dB and 0.3 dB, respectively. The investigations on the both polymer waveguides
without graphene result in the observation of no polarizing effect.

Fig. 3. The measured infrared images from the output port of the fabricated PLC-type graphene
polarizer depending on the polarization. (a) The air-cladding waveguide polarizer and (b) the
modified graphene polarizer covered with a UV-curable dielectric upper-cladding.

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3559
 Fig. 4. The insertion loss of the fabricated graphene-based waveguide polarizer. (a) The air-
cladding waveguide polarizer and (b) the modified graphene polarizer covered with a dielectric
upper-cladding. The insets show the waveguide structures.

If the graphene strips are placed on the waveguide core, the insertion losses depending on
the polarization change significantly. For the air-cladding graphene polarizer (Fig. 4(a)), the
averaged insertion losses for the TM- and TE-polarization light are 20.7 dB and 10.9 dB,
respectively. This reveals clearly that the waveguide polarizer works as a TE-pass polarizer
with an extinction ratio of about 10 dB. Similar to an in-line fiber-to-graphene coupler [11],
the TE-polarization light in the waveguide core couple into a two dimensional graphene strip
that supports a TE-polarization mode. If the graphene is considered as ultra thin two-
dimensional metal, a TM-polarization light may couple to graphene strip on the waveguide
core. However, the attenuation of a TM-polarization mode is larger than that of TE
polarization. This is similar to the behavior of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in metal
films that exhibits high radiative insertion loss when a thin metal strip is embedded in a
dielectric having an asymmetry between the index of refraction of the top clad and the bottom
clad [18].
In contrast, the modified graphene polarizer with a UV-curable polymer resin upper-
cladding shows different results. The TE insertion loss increases significantly up to 50 dB in
average, as shown in Fig. 4(b). This can be attributed to the fact that most of the optical power
is radiated out of the channel waveguide as slab mode, as shown in Fig. 3(b). Compared to the
TM-polarization, the TE insertion loss is 19.8 dB higher. Thus, the modified graphene
polarizer serves as a TM-pass polarizer. The graphene strip embedded in a homogeneous
dielectric supports a TM-polarization guided mode with the extinction ratio of 19 dB [12].
Thus, the TM-polarization light in the waveguide core couples into graphene strip.
The fully opposite experimental results for the fabricated two different polymer-based
PLC-type graphene polarizers may be attributed to the change of the electrical characteristics
of the graphene strip depending on the absence or presence of the upper-cladding on the
graphene strip. Electrons in graphene behave as massless Dirac fermions with gapless energy
band structure. Complex conductivity of graphene is modeled base on the Kubo formalism,
consisted of intraband and interband contributions: σ(ω, µc, Γ, T) = σintra + σinter, where ω is
radiant frequency, µc is chemical potential, Γ is scattering rate, and Τ is temperature [19, 20].
For kBT << | µc | and 0 < |µc| < ћω/2 (kB is Boltzmann’s constant, ћ = h/2π is the reduced
Planck’s constant), the negative imaginary part of the interband contribution becomes
dominant and the TE mode is supported by graphene [21]. By using this weakly damped TE-
mode surface wave along the graphene sheet, a TE-pass graphene polarizer has been
developed based on the side-polished optical fiber [11]. The experimental results of the air-
cladding graphene polarizer shown in Fig. 3(a) are coincident with those of the previous work
showing the optical characteristics of a TE-pass polarizer [11]. The graphene strip on the
waveguide core supports a TE-mode surface wave and the TE-polarization light propagates

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3560
along the graphene strip on the waveguide core with low attenuation. Therefore, the graphene-
based waveguide polarizer without an upper-cladding serves as a TE-pass polarizer.
However, when graphene is doped to a relatively high level (|µc| > ћω/2), the interband
conductivity becomes imaginary and the imaginary part of the intraband conductivity is
positive. Consequently, graphene behaves as an ultra thin metal film and supports a TM-mode
surface wave [22, 23]. The TM-mode surface wave on graphene film is similar to that of the
surface plasmon polariton (SPP) surface wave excited at the metal-dielectric interface [24].
Interface engineering using UV-curable polymer resin increases the carrier density of
graphene, which is coincident with the increase of the chemical potential. As a result,
graphene behaves ultra thin metal film that supports a TM-polarization guided mode. The
TM-polarization light in the wave guide core couples into graphene strip and propagates along
the two-dimensional metal-like graphene strip. Since the TE-mode is not supported by a thin
metal strip, the TE-polarization light is not coupled to metal-like graphene strip.
Interface engineering can control carrier type and density of graphene with polymethyl
methacrylate or self-assembled monolayer (SAM) [14, 15]. For the graphene film used in this
work, the sheet resistance (Rs) is 324 Ω/sq on the SiO2 substrate as measured by a four-point
probe instrument. If the upper side of the graphene is covered with the UV-curable
perfluorinated acrylate polymer cladding (Exguide LFR), the sheet resistance reduced to 270
Ω/sq. The conductivity of the graphene film increases by simply embedding the graphene film
in a polymer resin. When the UV-curable polymer resin exposed to UV light, photo-initiators
in the resin generate free radicals with unpaired electrons. Radicals attack double bonds and
accept free electrons. Free electrons may be supplied by graphene when graphene is
embedded in the UV-curable resin. Since the graphene on the SiO2 substrate is p-type, the
donation of free electrons in graphene leads the increase of the hole carrier density in
graphene. Consequently, the conductivity of graphene film on the SiO 2 increases. The
increment of the conductivity is proportional to the increase of the graphene’s chemical
potential, and consequently, the graphene strip embedded in the waveguide core and the
upper-cladding dielectrics in Fig. 1(b) supports a TM-polarization surface wave. Guidance of
the TM-polarization light along a graphene strip embedded in a homogenous polymer
dielectric has been demonstrated experimentally in our previous work [12]. Based on the
aforementioned analysis, we concluded that the graphene polarizer having a graphene strip
embedded in a UV-curable polymer resin serves as a TM-pass polarizer.
The number of graphene layer and the uniformity of the transferred graphene film on the
waveguide polarizer have a great effect on the extinction ratio. Uniform large-area monolayer
graphene can be grown by a thermal CVD-method using Cu as well as Ni catalysis [8]. If the
non-uniform graphene film grown using Ni is substituted with an uniform monolayer
graphene that is synthesized using Cu catalysis, the extinction ratio of the fabricated
graphene-based polymer waveguide polarizer becomes higher [11]. Minimization of
discontinuity with gaps, ripples, wrinkles, and contaminants in the transferred graphene may
contribute to the improvement of the performance of TE-pass graphene polarizer. The
chemical potential depends on the carrier density and can be controlled by means of chemical
doping, electric filed, magnetic field, and/or gate bias voltage. By modulating the chemical
potential, the characteristics of the graphene-based polymer waveguide polarizer can be
modified. Further rigorous theoretical and experimental analysis is highly necessary to fully
understand the behavior of the graphene film with various thicknesses and morphologies on
the UV-curable polymer-based waveguide polarizer, and we are investigating on it as another
research.
3. Conclusion
We have been realized planar-lighwave-circuit (PLC)-type graphene polarizers by using a low
loss optical polymer waveguide and investigated the optical characteristics at a wavelength of
1.31 µm. By placing a graphene strip on the waveguide core, the planar-type waveguide
polarizer serves as a TE-pass polarizer because the graphene strip supports TE-mode surface
wave. However, if the electrical properties of the graphene strip are tuned by interface

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3561
engineering using a UV-curable polymer rein, graphene embedded in the polymer supports
TM-mode surface waves. Thus, the modified graphene polarizer works as a TM-pass
polarizer. Based on the experimental results, we concluded that the proposed graphene-based
planar waveguide device can be exploited further for development of on-chip photonic
integrated circuits (PICs) by taking extraordinary advantages of graphene’s optical and
electrical characteristics.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Creative Research Program of the ETRI (11YF1110), Korea
and a grant (Code No. 2011-0031660) from the Center for Advanced Soft Electronics under
the Global Frontier Research Program of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology,
Korea.

#159539 - $15.00 USD Received 6 Dec 2011; revised 8 Jan 2012; accepted 10 Jan 2012; published 30 Jan 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 13 February 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 4 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3562