Splitting-on-demand optical power splitters using multimode interference (MMI) waveguide with programmed modulations

Reconfigurable multi-channel optical power splitter is proposed and its optical properties are calculated. The device can dynamically reconfigure the number of splitting channels by providing programmed refractive index modulations on a multimode interference (MMI) waveguide. A reconfigurable 3-channel optical power splitter is designed to work as 1 × 1, 1 × 2 or 1 × 3 optical power splitter depending on the state of the heat electrodes using thermo-optic modulation, and the input light can be distributed to three output channels with sequential orders. The device can work in the whole C-band (1530-1565 nm) with extinction ratio better than −29.0 dB, excess loss better than −0.45 dB, imbalance better than 0.08 dB and polarization dependent loss (PDL) better than 0.14 dB. The design conception is scalable to a multi-channel splitting-on-demand optical power splitter which can divide input light to 1, 2, …, N output channels equally by using the 3-channel reconfigurable optical power splitter as a building block.     

Simulation and optimization of a polymer 2×2 multimode interference-Mach Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch with push-pull electrodes

Structural model and design technique are proposed for a polymer 2×2 multimode interference-Mach Zehnder interferometer electro-optic (MMI-MZI EO) switch with push-pull electrodes. The electric field distribution is analyzed by the conformal transforming method and image method. To get the minimum mode loss and half-wave voltage, the parameters of the waveguide and electrodes are optimized, such as the core width, core thickness, buffer layer thickness, size of the MMI couplers and the modulating region, electrode thickness, electrode width, and electrode gap. Switching characteristics are analyzed, including the output power, crosstalk, and wavelength shift. Simulation results show that the half-wave voltage is 0.74 V, the optical 3 dB bandwidth is 12.66 GHz, and the crosstalk is less than −30 dB for the designed device.     

新型1×N多模干涉分束器的三维设计与模拟

相比于传统的1×N对称型多模干涉（Mult-Mode Interference,MMI）分束器设计,提出了一种新型埋入式弱限制光波导分束器件.它的干涉区及输入输出波导采用倒锥形式,器件尺寸减小,且不均匀性与附加损耗也减小.以1×4的对称型MMI分束器为例,当只对干涉区采用倒锥形结构后,在TE偏振中心波长为1.55 μm时,器件长度减小了500 μm,均匀性增加了0.131 dB,而附加损耗仅增加了0.02 dB,波长响应较传统设计增加了40 nm.在此基础上,又在输入输出臂上也各增加倒锥形结构后,相比于传统设计附加损耗减小了0.02 dB,均匀性增加了0.139 dB,器件长度减小了500 μm.改进后的器件具有优越的容差性.器件采用掺氟型聚合物材料进行优化设计,通过在合理范围内偏离输出波导位置,使输出光强达到最大值.     

Compact multimode interference coupler with tapered waveguide geometry

In this paper, a novel MMI coupler, based on general interference, with tapered waveguide geometry has been proposed for reduction of coupling length. The coupling characteristics and power imbalance of the proposed structure are compared with conventional MMI structures by using a mathematical model based on sinusoidal modes. It is seen that the beat length for tapered MMI coupler with angle of taper ∼1.05° is reduced by ∼24% of that of conventional MMI coupler and the coupling characteristics obtained with the mathematical model, match well with those obtained by more sophisticated BPM computer aided design software. The power imbalance for tapered 3 dB MMI coupler is more sensitive to the wavelength than that for conventional 3 dB MMI coupler and variation of power imbalance with fabrication tolerance for both the MMI coupler is almost same.     

基于深刻蚀SiO2脊型波导的紧凑型多模干涉功分器

采用深刻蚀SiO2脊型波导,利用其弯曲半径小的优点,设计了一种紧凑型1×2多模干涉功分器.在输入/输出波导与多模干涉区域之间引入了逆向锥形波导,有效地减小了输出波导间距,从而减小了多模干涉区域宽度及其长度,进一步实现了多模干涉器件的小型化(仅为150 μm×20 μm).并采用三维束传播方法对多模干涉区域及输入/输出波导中的光场传输进行了模拟仿真,得到了一组最优参量设计值,从而实现其结构优化.     

Tunable dual-wavelength terahertz wave power splitter

We demonstrate, for the first time, a tunable dual-wavelength terahertz wave power splitter based on the multimode interference effect and self-imaging principle in 1 × 2 × 2 photonic crystal waveguides. Both plane wave expansion method and finite-difference time-domain method are used to calculate and analyze the characteristics of the proposed device. The simulation results demonstrate that the power splitter not only split the input power into output1 and output2 branches with equal power at frequency of 1.09 THz, but also split the power into output3 and output4 branches symmetrically at frequency of 1.20 THz. Furthermore, for the frequency of 1.09 THz, the input terahertz wave power can be split into output1 and output2 branches with an arbitrary ratio by tuning the refractive index of the tuning rods.     

Electro-optic Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.53 μm based on KTiOAsO4

An eye-safe, high peak power optical parameter oscillator (OPO) intracavity pumped by electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is presented. This OPO is based on a 20 mm length KTiOAsO₄ crystal with non-critical phase matching (θ = 90°, ?=0°) cut. An aperture ∅3 mm acted as limiting diaphragm to get good beam quality of pumping laser. The output energy of 25 mJ at the signal wavelength 1.53 μm was obtained with repetition rate of 1 Hz. The highest peak power intensity was up to 88 MW/cm² with pulse width of 4 ns. Without diaphragm, the maximum output energy of 90 mJ was achieved with area of light spot (∅6 mm) four times larger, but the peak power intensity was lower.     

First-order hyperpolarizability of ZnS nanocrystal quantum dots studied by hyper-Rayleigh scattering

Hyper-Rayleigh scattering technique was used to measure for the first time the first-order hyperpolarizability (β) of ZnS nanocrystals with 2.5 nm mean diameter. Results show that the ‘per ZnS particle’ β value is 2.34×10⁻²⁷ esu and the ‘per ZnS formula unit’ β value is 1.63×10⁻²⁸ esu. An increase by at least two orders of magnitude in the β value per ZnS formula unit is found when compared with bulk ZnS. Two possible contributions originating from nanocrystal surface electric field and solvent field were experimentally excluded. Other two contributions, bulk-like contribution and surface contribution, are considered. Especially, the latter is emphasized due to the special surface structure of nanocrystals.     

Optimal design of multimode interference couplers using an improved self-imaging theory

Self-imaging theory is widely accepted as a good method in designing 1 × N multimode interference (MMI) couplers, but it is also true that self-imaging theory is not suitable for low-contrast structures. An improved self-imaging theory is proposed in this paper for the optimal design of low-contrast 1 × N MMI couplers. The average effective width of MMI waveguide and the average effective propagation constant of MMI waveguide are used as the basis to modify the conventional self-imaging theory. A direct calculation of the average effective width of low-contrast MMIs is presented. We use this approach in the optimal design of a 1 × 4 silica MMI coupler, and the results show that the improved self-imaging theory is more accurate than conventional self-imaging theory for low-contrast structures, the results also show that if the material parameters and the width of an MMI waveguide are fixed, the average effective width of the MMI waveguide will increase with the decrease of the height of the core layer.     

678 nm RTP electro-optical Q-switched ceramic laser

The RTP electro-optical Q-switched ceramic laser at the wavelength of 678 nm with narrow pulse width is studied. We used the laser diode arrays side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic crystal with 1.1 at% Nd doping and dimensions of Φ3 mm × 50 mm, designed folding cavity parameters, and discussed the variation of the beam radius in the ceramic crystal and frequency doubling crystal with the thermal focal length of ceramic crystal or KTP crystal. By using double RTP crystals as electro-optic Q-switch and KTP crystal type II phase matching for intracavity frequency-doubling, a narrow pulse width electro-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser was obtained. The output energy of 0.9 mJ and the pulse width of 41.6 ns at 678 nm are obtained at the repetition rate of 1000 Hz and pumped power of 144 W. The results formed the basis for the further development of the high power and high efficiency ceramic red laser.     

Fabrication of Si-based waveguide splitters using photosensitive sol-gel method

In this paper, a photosensitive sol-gel method for 1 × 8 Y-branch optical splitter is reported. The poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cladding films with different thicknesses (above 10 μm) on Si substrates are prepared on Si substrates by dip-coating, the root-mean-square roughness (Rrms) of which is less than 0.7 nm. The UV photosensitive organic-inorganic composite SiO₂/ZrO₂/H core films are then coated on these PMMA cladding films using photosensitive sol-gel method. The refractive indexes of PMMA cladding films examined by spectroscopic ellipsometer are 1.4854, 1.4815 and 1.4806 at 0.85, 1.31 and 1.55 μm, while that of the SiO₂/ZrO₂/H gel films are 1.5569, 1.5489 and 1.5472 μm, respectively, which is larger than that of PMMA cladding films. Therefore, the composite structure of SiO₂/ZrO₂/H gel films on PMMA-on-Si substrates could be used to fabricate waveguide splitter. Based on the inherent photosensitivity of the SiO₂/ZrO₂/H gel film, 1 × 8 Y-branch optical power splitters with a thickness of 5 μm are fabricated by irradiating the gel film with UV light through a mask followed by dissolving the non-irradiated area in a suitable solvent. The line-width and output spacing of this splitter are 25 and 110 μm, respectively. The observed near-field pattern indicates that the light with a wavelength of 1.53-1.56 μm can be transmitted and split into eight branches in the optical splitter, which is fabricated by using the above technique.     

A 1 × 4 polarization and wavelength independent optical power splitter based on a novel wide-angle low-loss Y-junction

A 1 × 4 polarization and wavelength independent optical power splitter is reported. This device is based on a novel wide-angle low-loss Y-junction structure which can give a theoretical TE junction excess loss of 0.26 dB at a branching angle of 16°. To the best of our knowledge, it is so far the lowest reported loss at such a large angle. The detailed design of the device and its fabrication are described. Our experimental results show the measured TE excess loss to be 1.2 dB and TM excess loss 1.8 dB for the whole splitter over the wavelength between 1.47 μm and 1.57 μm.     

Design and simulation of a novel 32 × 32 photonic bandgap power switch based on SOI waveguide

In this paper, we propose a novel 32 × 32 photonic bandgap (PBG) power switch based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The 32 × 32 PBG power switch merges the design concept of PBG structure and multimode interference (MMI) structure. With controlling the voltages of 256 blocks for changing the refractive index, we can demonstrate that the light propagation direction can be switched to the assigned output port as a 32 × 32 power switch. According to the simulations, the power switching control tables are searched and selected for successful switching. The size of our designed 32 × 32 PBG switch can be reduced to 252 × 6040 μm which is much smaller than the conventional opto-electronic switches.     

特种非对称低损耗1×5光分路器

设计和优化了一种新型低损耗、低偏振的基于二氧化硅的特种非对称1×5光分路器.在设计Y分支结构时,输入端采用缓变展宽波导结构和直波导过渡波导相结合的结构,此结构可以使输入光场缓慢展宽,进行分束前的准备,大大减小分支结构的辐射损耗和模式转换损耗.非对称1×5光分路器第一个端口输出功率占50%,第二至五端口输出功率占50%.利用三维光束传播法模拟和优化了特种非对称1×5光分路器,模拟结果表明,该结构具有均匀性好、器件尺寸小、低损耗和低偏振等优点,1×5光分路器在1 250~1 650 nm波长范围内,第一个输出端口附加损耗小于0.07 dB,均匀性小于0.023 dB,偏振相关损耗小于0.009 dB,第二到五端口附加损耗小于0.45 dB,均匀性小于0.41 dB,偏振相关损耗小于0.06 dB.     

弱导波导多模干涉耦合器结构参量优化设计

本文分析了以硅基底上二氧化硅波导为代表的弱导波导多模干涉(MMI)耦合器件输入(出)波导位置及宽度和MMI长度等结构参量对器件性能的影响.提出了参量空间法,在给定工艺材料参量和多模波导宽度情况下,通过匹配各结构参量,制出均匀性好、附加损耗低的弱导波导多模干涉耦合器件.     

Medium power single-mode single-wavelength fiber laser

Medium-power, single-mode, single-wavelength fiber laser working at room temperature using a polarization-maintaining erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber as the gain medium, and an un-pumped elliptical core erbium-doped fiber as a saturable absorber to reduce linewidth and mode hopping of the lasing wavelength is reported. The effects of length, erbium ion concentration, and polarization-maintaining property of the saturable absorber were explored. The output power of the laser was more than 100 mW and the lasing line was stable for more than 3 h with an intensity fluctuation of less than 0.2 dB. The laser linewidth (FWHM = Full width at half maximum) was 7.5 MHz and the signal to noise ratio was more than 50 dB. The output of the laser was measured using an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) of resolution 1.25 GHz and a scanning Fabry-Perot spectrum analyzer (SFPSA) of resolution 6.7 MHz.     

Broad band beam splitter based on the double-groove fused silica grating

In this paper, we propose a broad band 1 × 3 beam splitter operating in the telecommunication wavelength band under normal incidence, this device consisting of a double-groove fused silica grating layer is designed with using the inverse mathematical method and rigorous vector diffraction theory. It is shown from our calculations that the device presents excellent beam splitter ability for TE polarization light with the average diffraction efficiencies is more than 95% over ∼100 nm wavelength range, moreover, the uniformity of our beam splitter is better than 2% in the whole wavelength band. Furthermore, the physical understanding of the diffraction behaviors taking place inside the beam splitter gratings can be explained by the modal method.     

Design of a wavelength demultiplexer based on a parabolically tapered multimode interference coupler

A compact wavelength demultiplexer is designed for the operation at 1.30 and 1.55 μm wavelengths using the three-dimensional semi-vectorial beam propagation method. The parabolically tapered multimode interference (MMI) coupler based on the deep-etched SiO₂/SiON rib waveguide is introduced into the present demultiplexer for reducing the length. The numerical results show that a MMI section of 330.0 μm in length, which is only 76% length of a straight MMI coupler, is achieved with the contrasts of 42.3 and 39.2 dB in quasi-TE mode, and 38.4 and 37.8 dB in quasi-TM mode at wavelengths 1.30 and 1.55 μm, respectively and the insertion losses below 0.2 dB. The modified finite difference scheme is applied to approximate the resulting equations along the transverse directions, in which the discontinuities of the derivatives of magnetic field components H_y and H_x along the vertical and horizontal interfaces, respectively, are involved.     

Thermally tunable EDFA gain equalizer using point symmetric cascaded Mach-Zehnder coupler

In this paper, a thermally tunable EDFA gain equalizer filter based on point symmetric cascaded Mach-Zehnder (CMZ) filter based two mode interference (TMI) coupler is presented with its mathematical model. Transmission characteristics of these CMZ couplers are analyzed and compared with Y symmetric CMZ couplers by using this model. For EDFA gain equalizer, point symmetric CMZ circuit is chosen due to its higher wavelength flattening width than Y symmetric CMZ circuit. The ripples of equalized EDFA gain spectrum are formulated and estimated from the equalized gain spectrum of point symmetric CMZ filters. It is found that 2 stage point symmetric CMZ coupler with binomial coupler distribution (2PB CMZ) using Δn = 5% provides gain equalized width of 35 nm with ripple of 0.4-0.6 dB and bending loss of 0.24 dB and device length is ∼15 times lower than that of the existing EDFA gain equalizer based CMZ filter. It is also seen that if during the fabrication process, waveguide core width w is increased or decreased by 0.1 μm (in percentage ∼±6.6%), the power imbalance of TMI based 2PB CMZ filter is slightly increased by ∼8% in comparison to that based on directional coupler (DC) by 40%. Low power thermooptic structure of varying gap between two waveguide cores with silicon trench just below the heater is used and it requires ∼1.5 times less heating power than the conventional structure for thermal tuning of EDFA gain equalization.     

Compact,wide bandwidth,multi-channel power dividers based on one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides

We propose novel compact multiport power dividers based on one-dimensional photonic crystal omnidirectional reflective waveguides. The proposed power dividers have advantages of wide bandwidth, flexible extended output channel number and compact size. The power dividers are numerical simulations using finite-difference time-domain method. Near-complete transmission and uniform at every branch of output power of multi-port power dividers are observed within wide frequency range. For a 1D PhC 1 × 6 power divider, the six output port achieved nearly 16.5% transmission at each arm from 1545 nm to 1553 nm and the size of 1 × 6 power divider is 14.3 μm × 14.3 μm at 1.55 μm operation wavelength.