InGaAsP/InP evanescent mode waveguide optical isolators and their application to InGaAsP/InP/Si hybrid evanescent optical isolators

We theoretically investigated InGaAsP/InP evanescent mode waveguide optical isolators and proposed their application to InGaAsP/InP/Si hybrid evanescent optical isolators. InGaAsP/InP evanescent optical isolators are composed of semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) waveguides having InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) active layer and upper InGaAsP waveguide layer with ferromagnetic layer. Optical isolation is obtained for evanescent optical mode in the InGaAsP waveguide layer. InGaAsP/InP/Si hybrid evanescent optical isolators are theoretically proposed based on the idea of InGaAsP/InP evanescent optical isolators. InGaAsP/InP/Si hybrid evanescent optical isolators are composed of ferromagnetic metal loaded silicon evanescent waveguides with wafer-bonded InGaAsP/InP optical gain material. The optical isolation and propagation loss are discussed with the structure of silicon evanescent waveguides, and optical isolation of 8.0 dB/mm was estimated. The concept of semiconductor evanescent mode optical isolators is feasible with InP based photonic integrated circuits and advanced silicon photonics.     

Low-Temperature Sputtered Ultralow-Loss Silicon Nitride for Hybrid Photonic Integration

Silicon-nitride-on-insulator (Si₃N₄) photonic circuits have seen tremendous advances in many applications, such as on-chip frequency combs, Lidar, telecommunications, and spectroscopy. So far, the best film quality has been achieved with low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and high-temperature annealing (1200°C). However, high processing temperatures pose challenges to the cointegration of Si₃N₄ with pre-processed silicon electronic and photonic devices, lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI), and Ge-on-Si photodiodes. This limits LPCVD as a front-end-of-line process. Here, ultralow-loss Si₃N₄ photonics based on room-temperature reactive sputtering is demonstrated. Propagation losses as low as 5.4 dB m⁻¹ after 400°C annealing and 3.5 dB m⁻¹ after 800°C annealing are achieved, enabling ring resonators with highest optical quality factors of > 10 million and an average quality factor of 7.5 million. To the best of the knowledge, these are the lowest propagation losses achieved with low temperature Si₃N₄. This ultralow loss enables the generation of microresonator soliton frequency combs with threshold powers of 1.1 mW. The introduced sputtering process offers full complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility with front-end silicon electronics and photonics. This could enable hybrid 3D integration of low loss waveguides with integrated lasers and lithium niobate on insulator.     

Vertical coupling characteristics between hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide and Si waveguide

For development of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible integrated optical circuits, vertical directional coupling between a hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide and a Si waveguide is theoretically investigated in detail. To determine the vertical separation gap and efficient coupling length, we investigate the characteristics of the even and odd supermodes at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. The vertical coupler transfers 90% of the power carried by the Si waveguide to the hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide after normalizing to reference waveguides when the gap is 60 nm and the coupling length is 2.6 μm. Because of the lossy hybrid guided mode in the plasmonic waveguide, the transmitted power exhibits damped sinusoidal behavior depending on the overlapping length. The proposed vertical coupler shows more efficient light coupling between a dielectric and plasmonic waveguide in comparison to the other types of hybrid coupler, and can be exploited further for on-chip integrated opto-electronic circuits.     

Optimization of direct modulation rate for circular microlasers by adjusting mode Q factor

Semiconductor microcircular lasers have been investigated as potential light sources for photonic integrated circuits and optical interconnections for more than two decades. However, the direct modulation bandwidths of the circular microlasers remain a challenge, especially when being compared with other microlasers, such as photonic crystal lasers. In this paper, microcircular lasers connected to an output waveguide are investigated for high‐speed direct modulation with optimized mode Q factors. Small signal modulation with a resonance frequency of f_R = 12.5 GHz is realized for a AlGaInAs/InP circular microlaser with a radius of 10 µm at 290 K. Furthermore, clear eye diagrams are observed at 12.5 Gbit/s for a 15‐µm radius circular microlaser with f_R = 6.9 GHz.     

Digital synthesis of programmable photonic integrated circuits

Programmable photonic waveguide meshes can be programmed into many different circuit topologies and thereby provide a variety of functions.Due to the complexity of the signal routing in a general mesh,a particular synthesis algorithm often only accounts for a specific function with a specific cell configuration.In this paper,we try to synthesize the programmable waveguide mesh to support multiple configurations with a more general digital signal processing platform.To show the feasibility of this technique,photonic waveguide meshes in different configurations(square,triangular and hexagonal meshes)are designed to realize optical signal interleaving with arbitrary duty cycles.The digital signal processing(DSP)approach offers an effective pathway for the establishment of a general design platform for the software-defined programmable photonic integrated circuits.The use of well-developed DSP techniques and algorithms establishes a link between optical and electrical signals and makes it convenient to realize the computer-aided design of optics–electronics hybrid systems.     

Compact and efficient coupler to interface hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide with silicon photonic slab waveguide

A coupler is proposed to interface a hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide (HDLPW) with a silicon photonic slab waveguide. The HDLPW is firstly designed and optimized to attain the best tradeoff between the mode confinement and the propagation distance. The designed coupler is inspired from the taper configuration and numerically modeled through finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The results demonstrate that a high confinement and low loss of the energy is achieved from a silicon photonic slab waveguide into the dielectric slot of area 50×200 nm² in the HDLPW. The transmission attained through the coupler with a compact size of 400 nm is found to be as high as 80% (1 dB). Further, the planar nature of taper configuration makes the coupler easy to fabricate using the state-of-the-art CMOS facilities. The proposed coupler is useful in enabling the integration between photonic and hybrid plasmonic waveguides and thus realizing on-chip hybrid integrated circuits.     

Efficient Parametric Frequency Conversions in Chalcogenide-Loaded Etchless Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Waveguides

Parametric frequency conversion based on second-order nonlinearity (χ⁽²⁾) is critical in many applications. The implementation of second-order nonlinearity on integrated photonic platforms, in particular on the lithium niobate-on-insulator platform, has attracted considerable interest due to its low power consumption and small footprint. However, high-efficiency on-chip parametric frequency conversion remains challenging due to fabrication complexity. Here, efficient parametric frequency conversions via modal phase matching (MPM) in etchless thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN)-chalcogenide glass (ChG) hybrid waveguides fabricated by a simplified process free from domain engineering and etching of TFLN are proposed and demonstrated. An overall conversion efficiency of 25.55% W⁻¹ for second-harmonic generation is experimentally achieved in a 1-cm-long waveguide, significantly over the reach of the etchless counterparts and in the same order of magnitude as those of the etched cases based on MPM. Broadband frequency conversion with a 3-dB bandwidth of 57 nm is achieved based on cascaded second-harmonic generation and difference-frequency generation via MPM in a nanophotonic waveguide using a continuous-wave pump. This device shows great promise for efficient on-chip parametric frequency conversion, enabling a wide range of photonic applications, and paving the way for further integration with various advanced ChG photonic devices toward on-chip multifunctional microsystems.     

1×4光子晶体波导分束器的特性

在完整的二维光子晶体中引入线缺陷,形成了光子晶体波导,光子晶体波导分束器是集成化光学电路的重要组成元件。我们设计了一种线缺陷1×4光子晶体分束器,并且用有限时域差分法研究了它的特性。研究表明,输出端的透射传输特性与入射光的波长和分支的几何形状有关,并且入射波分别相等地流入四个输出端口。为了减少1×4分束器在三个Y型分支区的反射,可以通过调节在分支区的可调介质柱的半径R,使每个输出端口具有很高的透射率。     

Properties of a 1 × 4 optical power splitter made of photonic crystal waveguides

Optical power splitters made of photonic crystal waveguides are believed to become essential components for compact photonic integrated circuits used in fiber optic networks. We design a 1 × 4 optical power splitter made of linear-defect waveguides in photonic crystals, and analyze its properties using the finite-difference time-domain method. Our simulation results show that the transmission properties vary with wave frequency and branch geometry, and that an incident wave is divided equally into four output ports. To reduce the reflections at the three branching regions in the 1 × 4 splitter, we place the defects of extra rods in the branching region, and achieve high transmission in each output waveguide.     

Multitasking and Cascadable Microwave Photonic Signal Processing Topologies with Silicon Photonic Technologies

ABSTRACT

Microwave photonics (MWPs) is an emerging interdisciplinary field, where photonics technologies are adopted to facilitate the generation, transmission, detection, and processing of signals at radio-wave, microwave, and millimeter-wave frequencies. Recently, the integrated photonic technology has demonstrated its capability to miniaturize photonic circuits on a single chip, which paves the way for next-generation integrated MWP signal processing systems having reduced size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) specifications. In particular, by means of incorporating complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronic, optical, and optoelectronic components on a single integrated chip, silicon photonic circuits have brought new architectures and functionalities for MWP signal processing. This accelerates the evolution of MWPs from a single-use microwave signal processor toward a multitasking and cascadable MWP system, which is readily adaptable for a wide variety of uses and applications. In this review article, we provide an overview of the fundamental principle of the MWP signal processing topology. Developments in the microwave filtering technologies are reviewed with a focus on the integrated microwave filtering enhanced by optical phase equalization. We also review the recent progress and give an outlook for the future trend in MWP signal topologies, exploring the realization of multitasking and cascadable microwave signal processing systems based on silicon photonics.     

Optical characteristics of one-dimensional photonic crystals composed of high-aspect-ratio Si walls fabricated on V-grooved wafer

We demonstrate optical properties of one-dimensional photonic crystals (PC), which are fabricated using high-aspect-ratio etching on a V-grooved silicon wafer. The measured transmission spectrum has an obvious band gap; the suppression is over 30 dB. The quite small insertion loss of 1.9 dB is achieved by induced coupled plasma (ICP) cryogenic etching and direct coupling to the optical fiber aligned in the V-groove. We also successfully observed peaks originating from a localized cavity mode. Such a microcavity enables control of the light, which qualifies photonic crystal as a fundamental structure of optical functional devices. These results lead to achievement of integrated Si-based photonic circuits.     

Multiple slow light bands in photonic crystal coupled resonator optical waveguides constructed with a portion of photonic quasicrystals

Coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) in complex two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals (PCs) constructed with a portion of 12-fold photonic quasicrystals (PQs) are proposed. We show that enhanced transmission and slow light can be simultaneously achieved in such waveguides as well as general CROWs. Moreover, due to higher degree of flexibility and tunability of PQs for defect mode properties compared to conventional periodic PCs, multiple slow light bands can be flexibly obtained in CROWs constructed with complex 2D PCs. Our results may lead to the development of a variety of novel ultracompact devices for photonic integrated circuits.     

III–V based-semiconductor photonic crystals

Three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals based on III–V semiconductors are described. On the 3D photonic crystals, the development of complete photonic crystals at optical wavelengths and their applications to ultrasmall optical integrated circuits including 3D sharp bend waveguide are described. On the 2D photonic crystals, two-unique device and/or phenomena are demonstrated.     

Asymmetric plasmonic-dielectric coupler with short coupling length, high extinction ratio, and low insertion loss

Asymmetric directional coupling between a hybrid plasmonic waveguide with subwavelength field confinement and a conventional dielectric waveguide is investigated. The proposed hybrid coupler features short coupling length, high coupling efficiency, high extinction ratio, and low insertion loss; it can also be integrated into a silicon-based platform. This coupler can be potentially adopted for signal routing between plasmonic waveguides and dielectric waveguides in photonic integrated circuits. Furthermore, it can be exploited to efficiently excite hybrid plasmonic modes with conventional dielectric modes.     

Hybrid silicon evanescent approach to optical interconnects

We discuss the recently developed hybrid silicon evanescent platform (HSEP), and its application as a promising candidate for optical interconnects in silicon. A number of key discrete components and a wafer-scale integration process are reviewed. The motivation behind this work is to realize silicon-based photonic integrated circuits possessing unique advantages of III–V materials and silicon-on-insulator waveguides simultaneously through a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor fabrication process. Electrically pumped hybrid silicon distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector lasers with integrated hybrid silicon photodetectors are demonstrated coupled to SOI waveguides, serving as the reliable on-chip single-frequency light sources. For the external signal processing, Mach–Zehnder interferometer modulators are demonstrated, showing a resistance-capacitance-limited, 3 dB electrical bandwidth up to 8 GHz and a modulation efficiency of 1.5 V mm. The successful implementation of quantum well intermixing technique opens up the possibility to realize multiple III–V bandgaps in this platform. Sampled grating DBR devices integrated with electroabsorption modulators (EAM) are fabricated, where the bandgaps in gain, mirror, and EAM regions are 1520, 1440 and 1480 nm, respectively. The high-temperature operation characteristics of the HSEP are studied experimentally and theoretically. An overall characteristic temperature (T ₀) of 51°C, an above threshold characteristic temperature (T ₁) of 100°C, and a thermal impedance (Z _T ) of 41.8°C/W, which agrees with the theoretical prediction of 43.5°C/W, are extracted from the Fabry–Perot devices. Scaling this platform to larger dimensions is demonstrated up to 150 mm wafer diameter. A vertical outgassing channel design is developed to accomplish high-quality III–V epitaxial transfer to silicon in a timely and dimension-independent fashion.     

Wavelength Demultiplexing Structure Based on Coupled-Cavity Waveguides in Photonic Crystals

A structure based on photonic crystals for optical wavelength demultiplexing is proposed and analyzed. This structure consists of two coupled-cavity waveguides, each one tuned at a different frequency transmission band. A model based on the tight-binding method taken from solid-state physics is used to design the working frequencies of the waveguides. The demultiplexing behavior is demonstrated by means of simulations employing a finite-difference time-domain method. It is concluded that the demultiplexing mechanism presented here may be used as a building block in multifunctional lightwave integrated circuits based on photonic crystals.     

Design,fabrication and optical characterization of GaAs photonic crystal nanocavity lasers with InAs quantum dots gain wafer-bonded onto Si substrates

We designed and fabricated III–V compound semiconductor two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) thin film slabs with quantum dots (QDs) inside formed on Si substrates for highly integrated silicon photonic circuits with built-in nanolasers. Defect-shifted L3 type PhC nanocavities formed in GaAs thin films embedding 1.3 μm-emitting InAs QDs layer-transferred onto Si substrates were investigated. Quality factors <1000 for the PhC nanocavities on SiO₂ were enhanced up to ∼8000 by removing SiO₂ to form air-bridge structures, resulting in room temperature, continuous wave lasing.     

Photonic Spin Hall Effect as a Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Sensing Platform for Glucose

This study presents an innovative refractive index (RI) sensor that measures glucose concentration by utilizing the photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) in a resonant optical tunneling effect (ROTE) structure. The ROTE structure consists of three InP layers with the high RI and two analyte layers (with a high-low-high-low-high RI distribution), in which glucose solution samples with the low RI are injected. By subjecting the InP layers to external bias-assisted light, the photonic SHE can be flexibly manipulated, enabling the modulation of the sensing performance accordingly. It is found that the transverse shift of photonic SHE presents a large variation in response to the tiny change in glucose concentrations. By optimizing the parameters (i.e., intensity or wavelength) of bias light, the sensitivity of this sensor can reach as high as 735.7 µm RIU⁻¹. Compared to traditional glucose sensors, this original work implements the novel photonic SHE with the superior sensing performance. Therefore, the proposed design shows promising potential for biomedical applications, such as medical diagnoses and drug discovery.     

Self‐Collimation in Photonic Crystals: Applications and Opportunities

A comprehensive review considering recent advances in self‐collimation and its applications in optical integration is covered in the current article. Self‐collimation is compared to the conventional technique of photonic bandgap engineering to control the light propagation in photonic crystal‐based structures. It is fully discussed how the self‐collimation phenomenon can be tailored to be independent of the incident angle and polarization. This adds substantial flexibility to the structure to overcome light coupling challenges and simultaneously aids in the omission of bulk and challenging elements, including polarizers and lenses from optical integrated circuits. Additionally, designed structures have the potential to be rescaled to operate in any desired frequency range thanks to the scalability rule in the field of electromagnetics. Moreover, it is shown that one can boost the coupling efficiency by applying an anti‐reflection property to the structure, which provides not only efficient index matching but also the matching between external waves with uniform amplitude and Bloch waves with periodic amplitude.     

基于时域有限差分算法的光子晶体光分束器的设计

报道了一种基于空气孔型光子晶体自准直环形谐振腔1×4光分束器。其结构由4个改变空气孔半径的分光镜组成。首先运用多光束干涉原理分析光分束器各个端口的透射谱,通过分光镜的合适组合,自准直光就可以按照设定的比例从各出口出射。再利用编写的二维时域有限差分程序进行数值模拟计算,其结果和理论值很好地吻合。该结构具有尺寸小、自由光谱范围大、硅基等优点,有望应用于未来的高密度集成光路中。