All-optical logic devices based on black arsenic–phosphorus with strong nonlinear optical response and high stability

The Kerr nonlinearity in two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials is emerging as an appealing and intriguing research area due to their prominent light processing, modulation, and manipulation abilities. In this contribution, 2D black arsenic-phosphorus (B-AsP) nanosheets (NSs) were applied in nonlinear photonic devices based on spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) method. By applying the Kerr nonlinearity in 2D B-AsP, an all-optical phase-modulated system is proposed to realize the functions of “on” and “off” in all-optical switching. By using the same all-optical phase-modulated system, another optical logic gate is proposed, and the logical “or” function is obtained based on the 2D B-AsP NSs dispersions. Moreover, by using the SSPM method, a 2D B-AsP/SnS2 hybrid structure is fabricated, and the result illustrates that the hybrid structure possesses the ability of the unidirectional nonlinear excitation, which helps in obtaining the function of spatial asymmetric light propagation. This function is considered an important prerequisite for the realization of diode functionalization, which is believed to be a factor in important basis for the design of isolators as well. The initial investigations indicate that 2D B-AsP is applicable for designing optical logical devices, which can be considered as an important development in all-optical information processing.