Integrated Silicon Waveguide Research Articles

Fast topological pumps via quantum metric engineering on photonic chips.

Topological pumps have garnered substantial attention in physics. However, the requirement for slow evolution speed to satisfy adiabaticity greatly restricts their application in on-chip devices. Here, we discover a direct link between adiabaticity and quantum metric, the real part of quantum geometry that has been relatively less explored compared to its imaginary counterpart, the Berry curvature. We demonstrate that the evolution speed of topological pumps between nontrivial edge states can be increased by reducing the quantum metric via introduction of long-range coupling to the celebrated Rice-Mele model. This fast topological pump can occur without affecting the bulk state evolution, which challenges the common understanding. We experimentally confirm our findings by using a platform consisting of bilayer integrated silicon waveguides operating at telecommunication wavelengths. Our work provides possibilities for lifting topological pumps from the constraints of slow evolution and paves the way toward compact photonic integration.

Design of integrated silicon waveguides for Raman-enhanced four-wave mixing in the telecom band.

Silicon planar waveguides are designed to maximize the wavelength conversion efficiency via the use of Raman-enhanced four-wave mixing in the telecom band. By investigating the dispersion properties of various rib waveguide structures, the optimum etch depth and width are selected to obtain efficient phase-matching for a continuous-wave pump at 1545 nm. The design benefits from good fabrication tolerance in the structural parameters, which are well within the precision of standard lithography and etching processes. Using the optimized waveguides, simulations show that it is possible to reach conversion efficiencies as high as ∼45 dB for waveguide lengths as short as 4.6 cm, with a pump power of only 130 mW. This enhancement in the conversion efficiency is about 50 dB higher than conventional values for FWM in integrated silicon photonic systems, highlighting the benefits of exploiting the coupling between the two nonlinear processes.

Perfect Excitation of Topological States by Supersymmetric Waveguides.

Topological photonic states provide intriguing strategies for robust light manipulations, however, it remains challenging to perfectly excite these topological eigenstates due to their complicated mode profiles. In this work, we propose to realize the exact eigenmode of the topological edge states by supersymmetric (SUSY) structures. By adiabatically transforming the SUSY partner to its main topological structure, the edge modes can be perfectly excited with simple single-site input. We experimentally verify our strategy in integrated silicon waveguides in telecommunication wavelength, showing a broad working bandwidth. Moreover, a shortcut-to-adiabaticity strategy is further applied to speed up the adiabatic pump process by inverse-design approaches, thus enabling fast mode evolutions and leading to reduced device size. Our method is universal and beneficial to the topology-based or complex eigenmodes systems, ranging from photonics and microwaves to cold atoms and acoustics.

Plasmonic Biosensor for DNA Hybridization Using Integrated Graphene-Porous Silicon Waveguide

Plasmonic Biosensor for DNA Hybridization Using Integrated Graphene-Porous Silicon Waveguide

Entanglement generation using cryogenic integrated four-wave mixing

Cryogenic integrated nonlinear photonics can provide fundamental building blocks for scalable photonic quantum computing and optical interfacing among different platforms. Here, we investigate the spontaneous four-wave mixing effect in an integrated silicon waveguide with cryogenic operating conditions (4 K) and employ the system to generate the entangled photon-pair source, one of the key elements of photonic quantum information applications. We experimentally prove that even at cryogenic temperatures, the four-wave mixing effect in silicon waveguides is still an effective method to generate quantum photonic sources. The cryogenic photon-pair source is verified over multiple frequency channels within a bandwidth of ∼2THz. Furthermore, the source is used to generate high-quality frequency-multiplexed energy–time entangled states. Our results will advance the development of cryogenic nonlinear photonics and scalable integrated photonics for quantum information processing.

Fully integrated optical sensor system with intensity interrogation

Introduction: Today sensor systems based on integrated photonics devices are the most important branch of embedded information and control systems for various functions. The output characteristics of a sensor system are significantly determined by the efficiency of the interrogator. The intensity interrogator based on a microring resonator can provide a high scanning rate and sensitivity that meets the requirements of a wide range of applications. Purpose: To develop an effective sensor system composed of a refractometric sensor and an interrogator located on the same photonic integrated circuit for marker-free determination of the concentration of substances in liquids. Methods: We use the numerical simulation of electromagnetic field propagation in a waveguide system (integrated silicon waveguides on a silicon dioxide substrate) in the research. The simulation has been carried out using the Ansys Lumerical environment, the FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) solver. The parameters of the microring resonators were optimized to obtain the coupling coefficients between the waveguides, providing the operation in the critical coupling mode. Results: We propose the concept of a fully integrated photonic sensor system based on micro-ring add-drop resonators. A sensor based on microring resonators has been developed, which consists of two half-rings with a radius of 18 μm, connected by sections of straight waveguides 3 μm long. An interrogator represented by a microring resonator with a radius of 10 µm has been developed. According to simulation results with a broadband source, the achieved sensor sensitivity was 110 nm per refractive index change, or 1350 dB per refractive index change. We propose a technique for choosing the optimal characteristics of the sensor and interrogator targeted to improve the complete system efficiency. Practical relevance: Sensor systems based on photonic integrated circuits can meet the demand for devices characterized by low power consumption, small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference and low cost.

Polarization Control in Integrated Silicon Waveguides Using Semiconductor Nanowires.

In this work, we show the design of a silicon photonic-based polarization converting device based on the integration of semiconduction InP nanowires on the silicon photonic platform. We present a comprehensive numerical analysis showing that full polarization conversion (from quasi-TE modes to quasi-TM modes, and vice versa) can be achieved in devices exhibiting small footprints (total device lengths below 20 µm) with minimal power loss (<2 dB). The approach described in this work can pave the way to the realization of complex and re-configurable photonic processors based on the manipulation of the state of polarization of guided light beams.

Photonic crystal based on mott phase change material as all-optical bandgap switch and composite logic gate

We propose a composite photonic crystal based on phase change material to realize the photonic bandgap dependent all-optical switch in the mid-near infrared band. The demonstrated photonic crystal all-optical switch is built on the surface of integrated silicon waveguide on standard SOI and matched with standard CMOS lithography process. The communication light in the silicon waveguide is modulated by VO2 with Mott metal-insulator transition at near room temperature which results in the shifting of optical bandgap. The simulations based on the finite difference time domain method show that the photonic crystal device possess a modulation depth of 0.95 and an insertion loss of 1.27 dB for fundamental TM mode propagating at 1550 nm. We also discuss the influence of device length and thickness of photonic crystal on the switching performance. Moreover, the compound logic gate derived from proposed switch is also designed to provide NOT and NOR operations simultaneously for the next-generation all-optical chips. Due to the reversible phase transition process of VO2 photonic crystal, the proposed device can realize the fast state switching of light and is expected to provide some help for the research of silicon-based optical chips.

Supercontinuum Generation Assisted by Wave Trapping in Dispersion-Managed Integrated Silicon Waveguides

Compact chip-scale comb sources are of significant interest for many practical applications. Here, we experimentally study the generation of supercontinuum (SC) in an axially varying integrated waveguide. We show that the local tuning of the dispersion enables the continuous blue shift of dispersive waves thanks to their trapping by the strongly compressed pump pulse. This mechanism provides new insight into supercontinuum generation in a dispersion varying integrated waveguide. Pumped close to 2.2 $\mu$m in the femtosecond regime and at a pulse energy of $\sim$ 4 pJ, the output spectrum extends from 1.1 $\mu$m up to 2.76 $\mu$m and shows good coherence properties. Octave-spanning SC is also observed at input energy as low as $\sim$ 0.9 pJ. We show that the supercontinuum is more robust against variations of the input pulse parameters and is also spectrally flatter in our numerically optimized waveguide than in fixed-width waveguides. This research demonstrates the potential of dispersion varying waveguides for coherent SC generation and paves the way for integrated low power applications, such as chip-scale frequency comb generation, precision spectroscopy, optical frequency metrology, and wide-band wavelength division multiplexing in the near-infrared.

Low-loss nonlinear optical isolators in silicon

Asymmetric forward and backward transmission through photonic structures can be achieved via optical nonlinearities, but existing systems have typically used slow thermo-optic effects. A new resonator design has now enabled low-loss, non-reciprocal pulse routing based on the Kerr nonlinearity in integrated silicon waveguides.

Integrated silicon waveguide electro-optic half-adder based on Epsilon-Near-Zero and ITO

Integrated silicon waveguide electro-optic half-adder based on Epsilon-Near-Zero and ITO

Carbon dioxide absorption spectroscopy with a mid-infrared silicon photonic waveguide

Carbon dioxide ( C O 2 ) is a gas vital for life on Earth. It is also a waste product of human activities and is widely used in agriculture and industry. Its accurate sensing is therefore of great interest. Optical sensors exploiting the mid-infrared light absorption of C O 2 provide high selectivity, but their large size and high cost limit their use. In this Letter, we demonstrate C O 2 gas sensing at 4.2 µm wavelength using an integrated silicon waveguide, featuring a sensitivity to C O 2 of 44% that of free-space sensing. The suspended waveguide is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator substrate by a single-lithography-step process, and we route it into a mid-infrared photonic circuit for on-chip-referenced gas measurements. Its demonstrated performance and its simple and scalable fabrication make our waveguide ideal for integration in miniaturized C O 2 sensors for distributed environmental monitoring, personal safety, and medical and high-volume consumer applications.

Broad bandwidth waveguide polarizer via grating mediated mode conversion

A polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on a four-layer slab waveguide is proposed, where a sub-wavelength grating is embedded between the waveguide core and the cladding. This grating not only affords Bragg momentum to tune the propagation constant of guiding modes but also converts the forward zero-order waveguide mode to the backward first one for a specific polarization. Thus, the incident light with polarization that satisfies the phase-matching condition is highly reflected in the waveguide, while other light with orthogonal polarization keeps intact and passes through it efficiently. Numerical simulations show that one can make the compact PBS for both polarizations with an extinction ratio higher than 35 dB, a waveband larger than 80 nm, a grating period tolerance of 20 nm, and a waveguide height tolerance of 80 nm. The revealed mode conversion mechanism via the sub-wavelength grating enriches the design of PBSs for integrated silicon waveguide chips.

Data transmission at 1300 nm using optical interposer comprising hybrid integrated silicon waveguide and dilute nitride electroabsorption modulator

High speed back-to-back transmission of NRZ data at 12.5 Gbit/s was achieved over a repeaterless optical network without the use of forward error correction or optical clock recovery using a hybrid integrated silicon photonics optical interconnect. The interconnect comprises an electroabsorption modulator based on dilute nitride multiple quantum well material on GaAs substrate optically coupled to large core silicon waveguide using passive alignment and flip-chip bonding.

Performance analysis of metal-microheater integrated silicon waveguide phase-shifters

A detailed theoretical and experimental study of metal-microheater integrated silicon waveguide phase-shifters has been carried out. It has been shown that the effective thermal conductance gw and the effective heat capacitance hw evaluated per unit length of the waveguide are two useful parameters contributing to the overall performance of a thermo-optic phase-shifter. Calculated values of temperature sensitivity, SH = 1/gw and thermal response time, τth = hw/gw of the phase-shifter are found to be consistent with the experimental results. Thus, a new parameter ℱH = SH/τth = 1/hw has been introduced to capture the overall figure of merit of a thermo-optic phase-shifter. A folded waveguide phase-shifter design integrated in one of the arms of a balanced MZI switch is shown to be superior to that of a straight waveguide phase-shifter of the same waveguide cross-sectional geometry. The MZI switches were designed to operate in TE-polarization over a broad wavelength range (λ ∼ 1550 nm).

Ultra-broadband spin-controlled directional router based on single optical catenary integrated on silicon waveguide

Traditional waveguide directional couplers based on coherent interferences of multiple elements suffer from a narrow operation band. Furthermore, most of them only operate for a specific linear polarization and cannot fulfill the bidirectional sorting function. In this study, using the spin–orbit interaction of a single optical catenary on an integrated silicon waveguide, we demonstrated an ultra-broadband directional bidirectional router for circular polarization, with an extinction ratio higher than 15 dB in the wavelength range of 1,450 to 1,600 nm and a peak value of 25 dB at 1,550 nm. By reversing the spin of incidence, the light flow can be routed to the opposite direction.

All-optical wavelength conversion for telecommunication mode-division multiplexing signals in integrated silicon waveguides

An all-optical wavelength conversion method for telecommunication-band mode-division multiplexing (MDM) signals is proposed in integrated silicon waveguides by using the four-wave mixing effect with a dual-mode pump. By engineering the dispersion profile of the integrated silicon waveguide, the phase-matching conditions are realized simultaneously for the TE01 mode and the TE11 mode of the MDM signal in the telecommunication band, and they can be converted to the idler modes simultaneously. In a 1.2-cm-long waveguide, the 3-dB conversion bandwidth reaches 58nm with a conversion efficiency of -22.3 dB pumped by a 100-mW TE01 and 105-mW TE11 pump source.

RF-Photonic Filters via On-Chip Photonic–Phononic Emit–Receive Operations

The creation of high-performance narrowband filters is of great interest for many RF-signal processing applications. To this end, numerous schemes for electronic, MEMS-based, and microwave photonic filters have been demonstrated. Filtering schemes based on microwave photonic systems offer superior flexibility and tunability to traditional RF filters. However, these optical-based filters are typically limited to GHz-widths and often have large RF insertion losses, posing challenges for integration into high-fidelity radiofrequency circuits. In this article, we demonstrate a novel type of microwave filter that combines the attractive features of microwave photonic filters with high-Q phononic signal processing using a photonic-phononic emit-receive process. Through this process, a RF signal encoded on a guided optical wave is transduced onto a GHz-frequency acoustic wave, where it may be filtered through shaping of acoustic transfer functions before being re-encoded onto a spatially separate optical probe. This emit-receive functionality, realized in an integrated silicon waveguide, produces MHz-bandwidth band-pass filtering while supporting low RF insertion losses necessary for high dynamic range in a microwave photonic link. We also demonstrate record-high internal efficiency for emit-receive operations of this type, and show that the emit-receive operation is uniquely suitable for the creation of serial filter banks with minimal loss of fidelity. This photonic-phononic emitter-receiver represents a new method for low-distortion signal-processing in an integrated all-silicon device.

Silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) waveguide modal analysis for mid-infrared applications

Mid infrared photonics is a very promising field with many applications in various areas. Silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) is one of the proposed platforms for this region. This paper present a novel and rigorous modal analysis of the SOS strip waveguide in the mid-infrared range from λ = 2 to 6 μm using finite element method solver. The analysis include fundamental and higher modes with both transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization, where the dependence of these modes on the waveguide dimensions have been studied. Based on our modal analysis, a compact, wideband and easy to fabricate TE-pass and TM-pass integrated silicon waveguide polarizers have been designed. The different polarizer designs spans the whole mid-infrared transparency region of the SOS waveguide (λ = 2–6 μm). The TE-pass polarizer reaches 35.14 dB polarization extinction ratio while the TM-pass polarizer reaches 69.77 dB polarization extinction ratio with structure length of only 23 μm.

Integrated nonlinear interferometer with wavelength multicasting functionality.

Nonlinear interference based on four wave mixing (FWM) is extremely attractive due to its phase sensitivity. On the other hand, wavelength multicasting, which supports data point-to-multipoint connections, is a key functionality to increase the network efficiency and simplify the transmitter and receiver in the wavelength-division multiplexing systems. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a nonlinear interferometer with wavelength multicasting functionality based on single-stage FWM in an integrated silicon waveguide. With a three-pump and dual-signal input, four phase sensitive idlers are obtained at the interferometer output. For a proof-of-concept application, we further theoretically demonstrate the multicasting logic exclusive-OR (XOR) gate for both intensity and phase modulated signals. The proposed scheme would be potentially applied in various on-chip applications for future optical communication system.