Dispersion characteristics of coupled-resonator optical waveguides

A tight-binding optical waveguide formed by proximity coupling of nearest-neighbor resonators, e.g., a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW), has distinct wave and pulse propagation characteristics compared with a conventional waveguide, and several applications in photonic devices have been proposed recently. But analysis of the dispersion, and in particular the group-velocity dispersion, in such a waveguide requires particular attention: the waveguide displays two distinct regimes of operation, depending on the position of the wave packet in the dispersion relationship.     

光脉冲在微环耦合谐振光波导中传输线性特性的数值仿真

利用传输矩阵法得到了微环耦合谐振光波导色散关系的一般表达式,并由色散关系出发讨论了光脉冲在微环耦合谐振光波导中传输时的线性特性,包括带宽、群速度、色散和线性相位变化,这些特性对微环耦合谐振光波导在光通信和光传感领域的应用有重要意义. 关键词： 微环光波导 光脉冲线性特性 传输矩阵法 数值仿真     

Coupled-resonator optical waveguide: a proposal and analysis

We propose a new type of optical waveguide that consists of a sequence of coupled high-Q resonators. Unlike other types of optical waveguide, waveguiding in the coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) is achieved through weak coupling between otherwise localized high-Q optical cavities. Employing a formalism similar to the tight-binding method in solid-state physics, we obtain the relations for the dispersion and the group velocity of the photonic band of the CROW's and find that they are solely characterized by coupling factor k(1) . We also demonstrate the possibility of highly efficient nonlinear optical frequency conversion and perfect transmission through bends in CROW's.     

微环耦合谐振光波导中的色散控制模型与数值仿真

本文利用传输矩阵法得到了微环耦合谐振光波导的色散关系,讨论了耦合损耗、传输损耗及耦合系数对微环耦合谐振光波导色散的影响,改变耦合损耗、传输损耗及耦合系数可控制其色散曲线的形状、位置、以及带宽,色散曲线的变化及控制对微环耦合谐振光波导在滤波、光信号延迟及缓存等方面的应用有重要意义. 关键词： 光波导 微环光波导 传输矩阵法     

Optical soliton with group delay in microring coupled-resonator optical waveguides

This paper derives the dispersion relation of microring coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) without any approximation by using the transfer matrix method. Based on the established dispersion relation of CROWs it obtains the slow group velocity and dispersion coefficient. It finds that the effect of dispersion on optical pulses can be adjusted to balance the effect of nonlinearity by changing coupling coefficient or loss, so optical soliton with group delay can be obtained in microring CROWs. The optical soliton with group delay is of great significance for applications of microring CROWs in delay lines and optical buffers of future all-optical communication systems.     

Spontaneous emission in coupled microcavity-waveguide structures at the band edge

We examine spontaneous emission and photon dynamics in a microcavity coupled to a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) in a photonic crystal. We present an efficient tight-binding approach to obtain the Green tensor in large, arbitrary systems of coupled microcavities. We use this approach to examine spontaneous emission when the microcavity is strongly coupled to the CROW at the band center and band edge. We confirm the validity of weak-coupling theories for microcavities resonant at band center and obtain strong peak splitting in the previously inaccessible case of band-edge coupled structures.     

Effect of disorder on slow light velocity in optical slow-wave structures

Slow-wave optical structures such as coupled photonic crystal cavities, coupled microresonators, and similar coupled-resonator optical waveguides are being proposed for slowing light because of the nature of their dispersion relationship. Since the group velocity becomes small, slow light and enhanced light-matter interaction may be observed at the edges of the waveguiding band. We derive a model of the effects of disorder on slow light in such structures, obtaining a relationship between the root-mean-square variation in the coupling coefficients and how slow the light is at the band edge.     

Disorder-immune coupled resonator optical waveguide

We demonstrate that a photonic lattice with short- and long-range harmonic modulations of the refractive index facilitates formation of flat photonic bands and leads to slow propagation of light. The system can be considered a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW): photonic bands with abnormally small dispersion are created due to the interaction of long-lived states in the cavity regions via weak coupling across tunneling barriers. Unlike previous CROW implementations, the proposed structures can be fabricated with interference photolithography (holography), sidestepping the issue of resonator-to-resonator fluctuation of the system parameters. The proposed holography-based approach enables fabrication of arrays with a large number of coupled optical resonators, which is necessary for practical applications.     

Propagation in a directional coupler of parallel microring coupled-resonator optical waveguides

The fundamental concept of coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) is for the first time taken a step farther to propose the more complicated case of coupled-resonator directional couplers, by analyzing the phenomenon of propagation in two parallel chains of microring resonators. Using the method of transfer matrices it is shown that the infinite coupler supports even and odd supermodes that satisfy frequency-shifted replicas of the familiar CROW dispersion equation as well as modified periodic Floquet conditions. Depending on the relative coupling strengths between neighboring resonators in the same chain and between the two chains, the frequency bands of the supermodes can overlap or be completely separated, resulting, in the latter case, to a complete bandgap around the central resonance frequency of the microrings. Three frequency windows, corresponding to totally different properties of directional coupling, are defined through this band-overlap mechanism along the increased total bandwidth of the coupler. These predictions are fully confirmed in the response of the realistic finite-length version of the considered coupler which is also analyzed.     

Systematic design of single-mode coupled-resonator optical waveguides in photonic crystals

By establishing a direct relation between the dispersion and the field profile of a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) and those of its constituent cavities, we present a systematic method for the design of a single-mode CROW and for control of its dispersion. The procedure includes the design of a single-mode cavity and control of its frequency by engineering its structure. Then, by chaining these cavities in the proper direction and at an appropriate distance, we achieve the desired dispersion for the CROW.     

Continuously tunable 1 byte delay in coupled-resonator optical waveguides

A reconfigurable coupled-resonator optical waveguide made of a few directly coupled ring resonators is employed to control the delay of data streams modulated at tens of gigabits per second. A delay of 8 bit lengths (1 optical byte) with a small pulse broadening and 1 dB/bit fractional loss is achieved by using only eight rings. The limiting role of waveguide loss and spurious backreflections is experimentally investigated. The high storage efficiency (1 bit/ring) of the device enables an easy, reliable, hitless, and relatively low-power-consuming management of the delay. A higher storage efficiency is demonstrated to be associated to an unavoidable higher pulse distortion.     

光子晶体耦合腔波导的色散特性

理论研究表明，在基于光子晶体的耦合腔波导中，杂质带的色散性质取决于相邻缺陷间局域电磁场的特性，而非缺陷间距离的大小.在第一布里渊区中出现的杂质带的反常色散实际上是能带折叠的结果.通过计算结构的有效折射率，证实了杂质带色散是正常色散. 关键词： 光子晶体 反常色散 耦合腔 杂质带     

Fundamental limitations to gain enhancement in periodic media and waveguides

A common strategy to compensate for losses in optical nanostructures is to add gain material in the system. By exploiting slow-light effects it is expected that the gain may be enhanced beyond its bulk value. Here we show that this route cannot be followed uncritically: inclusion of gain inevitably modifies the underlying dispersion law, and thereby may degrade the slow-light properties underlying the device operation and the anticipated gain enhancement itself. This degradation is generic; we demonstrate it for three different systems of current interest (coupled-resonator optical waveguides, Bragg stacks, and photonic crystal waveguides). Nevertheless, a small amount of added gain may be beneficial.     

色散渐减光纤中自相似脉冲传输特性研究

研究了在高阶色散影响下,自相似脉冲在具有正常色散的色散渐减光纤中的演化情况.结果表明:当考虑高阶色散的影响时,脉冲的啁啾仍然具有很强的线性特性,只是中心变得不对称,产生中心漂移.这种啁啾特性使得自相似脉冲在时域中的抛物线形状产生畸形,导致了脉冲峰向一边延迟,并使脉冲的中心位置漂移,同时伴随着脉冲边沿的振荡.但是通过采用色散补偿技术,自相似脉冲强的线性啁啾仍然可以得到高质量的飞秒量级压缩脉冲,与忽略三阶色散影响时得到的压缩脉冲的脉宽近似相等.     

Continuous adjustment of group delay by tuning the argument of coupling coefficient in microring coupled-resonator optical waveguides

We derive the dispersion relation of coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) without approximation. And, we use the exact dispersion relation of CROWs established to calculate the group delay of microring CROWs and obtain a result similar to the experimental result reported by Poon et al. Further, through numerical simulation with the parameters used to simulate the experimental result, we found that the output group delay of microring CROWs could be adjusted continuously by changing the argument of the coupling coefficient θ resulting from the shift of the dispersion band. But, the adjustment of output group delay was not linear and meticulous control of θ could lead to a more favorable adjustment of the output group delay. The continuous adjustment of group delay is of great significance for applications of microring CROWs in delay lines and optical buffers of future all-optical communication systems.     

基于半导体光放大器的光脉冲压缩方案的研究

对一种基于半导体光放大器(SOA)和普通单模光纤的光脉冲压缩方案进行了理论分析和实验验证.建立了该方案的理论分析模型,并在此基础上数值模拟了光脉冲的传播过程.计算结果表明,通过合理选取单模光纤的长度,可使50 ps光脉冲压缩到5 ps.实验表明利用普通单模光纤群速度色散导致的脉冲啁啾抵消SOA自相位调制引起的脉冲啁啾,实现了色散补偿及脉冲压缩.     

啁啾脉冲放大激光系统中展宽器色散的解析算法

时域色散精密控制是超短激光产生及其应用中的关键技术之一,它通过控制各波长的光程产生相对延迟从而改变脉冲宽度.展宽器是啁啾脉冲放大激光系统中对激光脉冲展宽的装置,基于光线追迹法研究光线在展宽器中的传输路径,可计算飞秒脉冲中各波长的光程,进而计算脉冲展宽量并应用于系统设计.由于展宽器的光程表达式复杂,直接对其求导获得色散表达式较困难,目前只能采用数值导数获得近似解,这在计算过程中会引入误差,不利于激光系统精确设计和优化.本文介绍了一种易实现的求解展宽器色散的解析算法,通过归纳展宽器光程表达式特点,引入四个基元函数,将光程表达式分解和反复代换,可得到高阶色散的精确解析值.本文首先对Martinez型展宽器重新光线追迹,获得与Offner型展宽器一致的相位表达式,其次通过解析算法获得了两种展宽器的精确高阶色散值,最后将解析算法与数值算法的结果进行了比较.该解析算法对于啁啾脉冲放大系统的参数设计具有实用价值.     

Modeling dispersion in optical fibers: applications to dispersion tailoring and dispersion compensation

The phenomenon of temporal pulse dispersion, which is a key characteristic of an optical fiber communication system is described from the first principles. Beginning with the basics of dispersion in a bulk medium, these concepts are then applied to propagation of a pulse in an optical fiber. Details of modeling dispersion are then described in the context of dispersion tailoring and dispersion compensation with a view to form the foundation for subsequent chapters on dispersion compensation that follow in this report. Basic physics behind the design target for dispersion compensating fibers is discussed, which should be useful to fiber designers.     

Dynamically tuned coupled-resonator delay lines can be nearly dispersion free

We investigate dispersion effects in dynamically tuned, coupled-resonator delay lines. Provided that the system is tuned to a zero-bandwidth state, a signal can be delayed indefinitely with almost no dispersion. We present a theoretical analysis of such a light-stopping system and verify the results using numerical simulations.     

"Ideal" optical delay lines based on tailored-coupling and reflecting, coupled-resonator optical waveguides

We present a design of "ideal" optical delay lines (i.e., constant amplitude and constant group delay over the desired bandwidth). They are based on reflection from coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs). The inter-resonator coupling coefficients are tailored and decrease monotonically with the distance from the input to realize all-pass Bessel filters. The tailored coupling coefficients result in a frequency-dependent propagating distance which compensates for the group velocity dispersion of CROWs. We present a simple formalism for deriving the time-domain coupling coefficients and convert these coefficients to field coupling coefficients of ring resonators. The reflecting CROWs possess a delay-bandwidth product of 0.5 per resonator, larger than that of any kind of transmitting CROW. In the presence of uniform gain, the gain enhanced by slow light propagation and the constant group delay result in efficient and dispersion-free amplifiers.