Manipulating discrete solitons and routing the light-transmitting paths in the silicon waveguide array by a d.c. electric-field.

Abstract

Discrete solitons (DS), which could propagate without diffraction in the waveguide array (WA), have attracted great attention. However, its applications are limited to incident light with high power. Here, based on the d.c. Kerr effect in the silicon, we propose and demonstrate theoretically an electrically reconfigurable ridge waveguide array. By applying sech-function bias voltages on the WA, a Kerr-type DS could be mimicked by a low-power incident light. The transmitting paths of DS and low-power light in the WA can be rerouted with great flexibility by changing the local bias voltages applied on the waveguide. Our proposed silicon WA provides new opportunities for electric-controlled optical devices, which may open a gateway towards rerouting light on-chip and designing integrated optics devices.