Abstract
The ever-increasing demand for high speed and large bandwidth has made photonic systems a leading candidate for the next generation of telecommunication and radar technologies. The photonic platform enables high performance while maintaining a small footprint and provides a natural interface with fiber optics for signal transmission. However, producing sharp, narrow-band filters that are competitive with RF components has remained challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate all-silicon RF-photonic multi-pole filters with ∼100× higher spectral resolution than previously possible in silicon photonics. This enhanced performance is achieved utilizing engineered Brillouin interactions to access long-lived phonons, greatly extending the available coherence times in silicon. This Brillouin-based optomechanical system enables ultra-narrow (3.5 MHz) multi-pole response that can be tuned over a wide (∼10 GHz) spectral band. We accomplish this in an all-silicon optomechanical waveguide system, using CMOS-compatible fabrication techniques. In addition to bringing greatly enhanced performance to silicon photonics, we demonstrate reliability and robustness, necessary to transition silicon-based optomechanical technologies from the scientific bench-top to high-impact field-deployable technologies.
Highlights
The seemingly endless appetite for high bandwidth, rapid reconfigurability, and high spectral resolution in modern communications is an impetus for new signal processing technologies that expand the capabilities offered by conventional RF circuits
We report a tunable narrow-band RF-photonic filter based on a multi-pole photonic–phononic emitter–receiver (PPER) device, as a basis for versatile new RF-photonic systems using standard silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fabrication methods
We have demonstrated a PPER-based tunable RFphotonic multi-pole filter in a silicon platform, yielding an improvement of two orders of magnitude in the resolution of siliconphotonic multi-pole filters
Summary
The seemingly endless appetite for high bandwidth, rapid reconfigurability, and high spectral resolution in modern communications is an impetus for new signal processing technologies that expand the capabilities offered by conventional RF circuits. The long-lived acoustic waves that mediate Brillouin interactions yield narrow spectral features, similar to the role played by acoustic waves in RF filters, with resonant frequencies in the microwave range, and are further tunable through optical wavelength and device geometry.. The long-lived acoustic waves that mediate Brillouin interactions yield narrow spectral features, similar to the role played by acoustic waves in RF filters, with resonant frequencies in the microwave range, and are further tunable through optical wavelength and device geometry.29,35,36 These features make Brillouinscattering-based devices a promising candidate for RF-photonic applications such as filters, delay lines, oscillators, and spectral analysis.. The resulting acoustic multi-mode interference yields a second-order filter response, with 3.5 MHz full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) at a center frequency of 3.87 GHz and 70 dB out-of-band suppression Using this device, we demonstrate an RF-photonic link, yielding a link-gain of G = −17.3 dB. Based on a recent comprehensive survey of RF-photonic filters, the RF link performance of the filter is on par with other RF-photonic filtering schemes, while having a narrower bandwidth and higher out-of-band rejection
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
