Nonlinear Few‐Layer Antimonene‐Based All‐Optical Signal Processing: Ultrafast Optical Switching and High‐Speed Wavelength Conversion

Exploration of ultrastable 2D material‐based optical devices toward all‐optical signal processing is attracting rising interest. As a Group‐VA monoelemental 2D material, antimonene is becoming a promising nonlinear optical material owing to its outstanding optoelectronic advantages with long‐term stability. Herein, all‐optical signal processing based on the high optical nonlinearity of antimonene is first demonstrated. Few‐layer antimonene is fabricated and decorated on the microfiber as an optical device. The device can be applied as an all‐optical Kerr switcher with an extinction ratio as high as ≈12 dB and wavelength conversion of modulated high‐speed signals at a frequency up to 18 GHz. The findings indicate that such a few‐layer antimonene‐based photonics device is applicable in nonlinear optics, which can be potentially developed for the applications of next‐generation high‐speed optical communication.