MXene-PVA thin film for efficient all-optical modulator and all-optical signal processing with high performances

All-optical modulation has been regarded as an effective method to solve the electrical bandwidth bottleneck problems existing in the current telecommunication network. By taking advantage of high photothermal conversion of two-dimensional (2D) MXene, a high-performance all-optical modulator is demonstrated. The polarization-dependent all-optical modulator exhibits a broadband intensity modulation behavior with a modulation depth of 15 dB. The response time of such all-optical modulator is approximately ten times than that of fiber-type MZI/MI-assisted all-optical modulator based on the thermal-optic effect. Besides, an all-optical information loading with a bit rate of 400 bit s(-1)is successfully achieved. Therefore, it is anticipated that the all-optical modulator with the advanced optical structures and excellent 2D materials has extraordinary potentials for future optical information processing.