Hybrid silicon photonic devices with two‐dimensional materials

Abstract Silicon photonics is becoming more and more attractive in the applications of optical interconnections, optical computing, and optical sensing. Although various silicon photonic devices have been developed rapidly, it is still not easy to realize active photonic devices and circuits with silicon alone due to the intrinsic limitations of silicon. In recent years, two‐dimensional (2D) materials have attracted extensive attentions due to their unique properties in electronics and photonics. 2D materials can be easily transferred onto silicon and thus provide a promising approach for realizing active photonic devices on silicon. In this paper, we give a review on recent progresses towards hybrid silicon photonics devices with 2D materials, including two parts. One is silicon‐based photodetectors with 2D materials for the wavelength‐bands from ultraviolet (UV) to mid‐infrared (MIR). The other is silicon photonic switches/modulators with 2D materials, including high‐speed electro‐optical modulators, high‐efficiency thermal‐optical switches and low‐threshold all‐optical modulators, etc. These hybrid silicon photonic devices with 2D materials devices provide an alternative way for the realization of multifunctional silicon photonic integrated circuits in the future.