Low loss slow light propagation in silicon slot waveguide.

Deepak V Simili,Michael Cada

doi:10.1364/oe.27.026203

Abstract

Silicon slot waveguide Bragg gratings have been designed, fabricated and the experimental data has been analyzed for its slow light properties. Slow light with a group index of 12.38 at a wavelength near 1555 nm and having a low propagation loss of 5.1 dB/mm has been determined for internally corrugated slot waveguide Bragg gratings on a silicon-on-insulator platform. The combination of slow light and low propagation loss make the internally corrugated slot waveguide Bragg gratings especially attractive as a phase shifter section for low drive voltage, high speed and compact electro-optic modulators.

Highlights

Silicon slot waveguides [1] are a key component in active and passive photonic devices to enable development of silicon-based photonic integrated circuits (PIC)
They are one-dimensional (1D) periodic structures wherein light is confined in the low index slot medium thereby allowing for utilization of optical properties of the low index slot medium and it possesses a stopband which is characteristic of a photonic crystal (PC) structure
In this paper we explore slow light capabilities of silicon slot waveguide Bragg grating (BG) structures through design, fabrication and experimental data analysis

Summary

Introduction

Silicon slot waveguides [1] are a key component in active and passive photonic devices to enable development of silicon-based photonic integrated circuits (PIC). The slot waveguide BG structure is introduced in a Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) circuit which is used to extract group indices and insertion loss in the slow and fast light regimes within 1.5-1.6 μm wavelength range through simulation and experimental data. This is followed by device application analysis of the proposed slot BG waveguide as a phase shifter section for an electro-optic (E-O) modulator with an E-O polymer cladding

Modeling and simulation

Fabrication

Summary and conclusion