Spot-size conversion effect on integrated photonic devices

Using numerically simulated results, we show that an efficient laser-to-optical fibre coupling is possible by incorporating a uniform spot size converter (SSC) based on diluted waveguides with low contrast index waveguide. We propose photonic devices and circuits composed of a laser coupled through a SSC to a one and more microdisks, which are coupled to an optical fibre. Using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we simulate the propagation characteristics of light in the fundamental elements as the pulse propagates down the whole structure. Also by the use of the FDTD method, we model and predict the geometrical parameters used for the design of the different types of the proposed devices. It is shown that the coupling efficiency is less than 10% without the diluted waveguide, but the SSC couplers have over 73% power transmission. The gap width between the microdisks, coupling between the laser and the sequence of microdisks is investigated. We report the microdisk effect on the coupling efficiency between the laser-SSC structure and the optical fibre.     

Silica-based microcavity fabricated by wet etching

Silica whispering gallery mode(WGM) microcavities were fabricated by the buffered oxide etcher and potassium hydroxide wet etching technique without any subsequent chemical or laser treatments. The silicon pedestal underneath was an octagonal pyramid, thus providing a pointed connection area with the top silica microdisk while weakly influencing the resonance modes. The sidewalls of our microdisks were wedge shaped, which was believed to be an advantage for the mode confinement. Efficient coupling from and to the 60 μm diameter microdisk structure was achieved using tapered optical fibres, exhibiting a quality factor of 1.5×10~4 near a wavelength of 1550 nm. Many resonance modes were observed, and double transverse electric modes were identified by theoretical calculations. The quality factor of the microdisks was also analysed to deduce the cavity roughness. The wet etching technique provides a more convenient avenue to fabricate WGM microdisks than conventional fabrication methods.     

Integration of electro-optic polymer modulators with low-loss fluorinated polymer waveguides

We have demonstrated a hybrid Mach-Zehnder optical modulator consisting of a large-core, low-loss fluorinated passive polymer waveguide and an electro-optic (EO) polymer waveguide. The combination exhibits low fiber coupling loss to the passive waveguide and reduced transmission loss because the EO polymer waveguide is used only in the active region. The two waveguides are connected by vertical tapers that permit low-loss adiabatic coupling between the two modes. The half-wave voltage and the insertion loss of the fabricated modulator are 3.6 V and 6 dB, respectively, at a wavelength of 1.55 microm . The estimated coupling loss with the standard single-mode fiber is ~0.5 dB.     

Quality-factor enhancement of supermodes in coupled microdisks

We investigate the optical modes in a coupled pair of semiconductor microdisks in symmetric and asymmetric configurations both experimentally and theoretically. While the quality factors of coupled first- and second-order whispering gallery modes (WGMs) show a conventional crossing, the quality factors of the same-order WGMs reveal an interesting splitting behavior, leading to the formation of high- and low-quality supermodes. Our results are reproduced by numerical simulations, and an explanation based on optical interference is suggested. Quality-factor splitting is a subtle phenomenon that might help to design microarchitectures for efficient optical coupling in cavity quantum electrodynamic experiments.     

电压调控多种金属膜波导特性研究

采用自由空间耦合的方法,激发双面金属包覆波导中的超高阶导模,通过在双面金属包覆介质波导的两个金属膜上加不同的电压,改变导波层铌酸锂的厚度和折射率,得到不同参数下的衰减全反射谱,从而验证超高阶导模的偏振不灵敏性及对导波层厚度和折射率十分灵敏的特殊性质,实验结果与理论相吻合。比较相同条件下反射率的变化,得到铝包覆波导的灵敏度要高于金包覆波导。所得结果对集成光电子器件的研制有一定的参考价值。     

Optical mode structure of the plasma waveguide

The quasibound modes of an evolving plasma waveguide were investigated by using variably delayed end-injected and side-injected probe pulses. The use of these different coupling geometries allowed the probing of the waveguide's optical modes during two temporal regimes: early-time plasma channel development, characterized by leaky optical confinement, and later channel hydrodynamic expansion characterized by stronger confinement. The wave equation was solved to determine the available quasiguided optical modes and their confinement for experimentally measured electron density profiles. The guided intensity patterns and spectra measured at the waveguide exit were successfully explained in terms of these mode solutions. The spectrum of broadband end-coupled probe pulses was found to be unaffected by the guiding process, mainly because those modes which survived to the waveguide exit were well-bound, and for strongly bound fields, the transverse mode profiles are wavelength independent. By contrast, side coupling to the quasibound modes of the plasma waveguide was seen to be highly mode and frequency selective.     

Wave propagation in uniaxial graded-index optical waveguides

Propagation of guided-modes in uniaxial optical waveguides is investigated. When the optical axis lies in the plane of the waveguide, a coupling between TE and TM modes takes place. Based on the coupled-mode theory, the propagating constants of the hybrid modes, the coupling coefficient and the interaction length are determined. A simple model is proposed to describe the guided mode behaviour. The results are illustrated for the case of Ti-diffused LiNbO₃ waveguide.     

Theory of absorption integrated optical sensor of gaseous materials

The eigen and noneigen (leaky) modes of a three-layer planar integrated optical waveguide are described. The dispersion relation of a three-layer planar waveguide and other dependences are derived, and the cutoff conditions are analyzed. The diagram of propagation constants of the guided and radiation modes of an irregular asymmetric three-layer waveguide and the dependence of the electric field amplitudes of radiation modes of substrate on vertical coordinate in a tantalum integrated optical waveguide are presented. The operating principles of an absorption integrated optical waveguide sensor are investigated. The dependences of sensitivity of an integrated optical waveguide sensor on the sensory cell length, the coupling efficiency of the laser radiation into the waveguide, the absorption cross-section of the studied material, and the level of additive statistical noise are investigated. Some of the prospective areas of application of integrated-optical waveguide sensors are outlined.     

Dynamics of an optical signal in a multimode waveguide structure

A mathematical model of linear dynamic distortions of average signal power in a planar optical waveguide stemming from the intermodal coupling and dispersion of waveguide modes caused by macroscopic bends and irregularities of the optical waveguide surface has been developed on the basis of pulse intermodal scattering matrix. It is shown that the elements of this matrix are determined at a waveguide segment whose length greatly exceeds the correlation scale of the field of irregularities but is much smaller than the normalization length of waveguide modes and are described by rectangular functions with a duration proportional to the relative velocity of the corresponding modes. The dependences of the pulse intermodal scattering matrix on the intensities of absorption, Rayleigh scattering, and optical signal scattering from waveguide irregularities have been established. It is shown that, at waveguide lengths exceeding the normalization length, the optical signal shape becomes almost stable and can be expressed in terms of the pulse characteristic of an integrating circuit. It has been established that irregularities of the film in a bent optical waveguide lead not only to additional attenuation but also to enhancement of multimode distortion. A matrix method is proposed for taking into account these distortions, which is based on the effect of equalization (scrambling) of the signal energy over the spectrum of the bent waveguide modes. The model developed was used to process the experimental data on the dynamics of a signal in a weakly guiding multimode polymer optical fiber in order to estimate the parameters of attenuation and irregularities of the waveguide surface.     

Anomalous transmission of terahertz wave through one-dimensional lamellar metallic grating

The anomalous transmission through one-dimensional lamellar metallic gratings was investigated in terahertz (THz) regime. The extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is identified to originate from two possible ways: coupling of incident light with waveguide resonances and coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the upper and lower interfaces of metal grating. The dual effects of SPPs have been clarified in this study: (i) the excitation of SPP modes at each individual interface results in the weakness of the THz wave transmission; and (ii) the coupling of SPP modes at two interfaces of metal grating is attributed to enhancement of THz wave transmission. The enhanced transmission is dominated by the coupling of incident light with transverse waveguide resonances. Numerical simulation based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) agrees well with experimental results.     

Collinear interaction of optical waveguide modes with an increasing space-charge wave

Collinear interaction of optical modes in a thin-film semiconductor waveguide with a space-charge wave increasing along its propagation direction has been investigated. Analytical solutions to the equations of coupled unidirectional and counterpropagating waveguide modes at their phase matching are obtained for the first time, and the dependence of the mode conversion efficiency on the space-charge wave amplification level, the coupling coefficient, and the length of the interaction region of optical modes is analyzed.     

TM-mode coupling in anisotropic optical waveguides caused by periodic variation optic-axis direction

The problem of mode coupling caused by a small periodic variation of the opticaxis direction in an anisotropic optical waveguide is reduced to a pair of coupled differential equations and an expression for the coupling coefficient is given. For a periodically perturbed section of the waveguide the coupled-mode equations are solved subject to suitable boundary conditions, and the coupling between the forward TM mode and the backward TM mode is analysed. A perturbed section of an anisotropic waveguide acts as a frequency selective reflection filter for TM modes only.     

Multichannel W3 Y-branch filter in a two dimensional triangular-lattice photonic crystal slab

We demonstrate the design, fabrication and characterization of a highly efficient multichannel W3 Y-branch filter in a two dimensional triangular-lattice photonic crystal slab. The coupling properties between high-order waveguide modes and fundamental resonant modes are investigated. By finely adjusting the size of resonant cavities, four higher-order mode channels with different output wavelengths are experimentally realized, which is in agreement with the theoretical simulations. The results show that this kind of filter may be useful in optical integrated circuits with high coupling and transmission efficiency.     

亚毫米尺度双面金属波导的超高阶模及其滤波特性研究

利用真空溅射法在一片亚毫米尺度的光学玻璃平板两面分别镀上不同厚度的金属薄膜,构成一种超厚的双面金属包覆波导。采用自由空间耦合技术实现了这种波导中超高阶导模的激发。由于超高阶导模具有对波长特别灵敏而对偏振不灵敏的特殊性质,以此为基础,在实验中演示了可调谐、偏振不灵敏、低损耗(小于0.5 dB)的超窄带(小于0.08 nm)和梳状滤波(通道间隔为100 GHz)。     

Coupled mode analysis of light modulation in dielectric waveguides

A detailed analysis of electrooptic light modulation in optical waveguides is presented. Several important problems of a waveguide modulator, such as the difference of waveguide axes from crystalline electrooptic ones, the distribution of transverse and longitudinal field components of light modes, and the traveling-wave property of the modulating field, are discussed. The analysis is based on the coupled mode theory, regarding the modulation as the coupling among sidebands of unperturbed waveguide modes. The coupled mode equation is derived for the modulation in optical waveguides. It can be solved if the normal modes of the waveguide are given. Actually the equation is solved for the modulation in dielectric slab waveguides and the mechanism of modulation is discussed. The results of the analysis are applied to designing two types of waveguide modulators. In an example (10.6 μm modulator with a GaAs slab waveguide) a new efficient crystal orientation is found. The calculated phase retardation with this orientation is 0.13 rad/(V·cm) with a 1 μm thick slab. Another example of a 0.633 μm modulator using a LiTaO₃ crystal as a substrate is also described.     

Polarization-independent grating couplers for silicon-on-insulator nanophotonic waveguides

We propose the use of subwavelength structures in a waveguide grating to achieve polarization-independent coupling of light between an optical fiber and a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) optical waveguide. The subwavelength structure allows the mode effective indices of the TE and TM modes in the grating section to be precisely engineered. We calculate that coupling efficiency of over 64% is possible using the proposed design for polarization-independent coupling between single-mode optical fibers and SOI nanophotonic waveguides.     

半径渐变同轴波导模式耦合系数研究

 为了用耦合波理论研究一些同轴结构的高频特性，推导了半径渐变同轴波导内模式耦合系数的计算公式，发现半径渐变圆波导模式耦合系数只是同轴波导模式耦合系数的特例。对同轴波导中的模式及其本征方程根的特点进行了讨论，通过建立同轴波导模式和矩形波导模式之间的对应关系，给出了同轴波导模式本征方程根的快速计算方法。对所给模式耦合系数公式进行了验证，耦合波理论计算结果与有限元方法计算结果吻合良好。     

星形光波导耦合器的耦合特性分析

根据TE0模光波导的本征场分布、瑞利索末菲标量衍射积分公式和激励源与光波导耦合的匹配效率公式,给出光波导端面衍射和耦合的归一化发射系数和接收系数计算公式,推导出光波导端面非接触耦合的耦合效率计算公式。光波导模场分布采用高斯函数近似表达,给出简洁的计算光波导端面非接触耦合的耦合效率函数表达式。最后,基于星形光波导耦合器结构参量的特点,将累加运算采用积分运算近似表达,给出星形光波导耦合器接收光波导总的接收效率与耦合器基本参量的关系,阐明了星形光波导耦合器的耦合特性。     

Polarization mode conversion in an optical microdisk resonator vertically coupled to a waveguide bus

Due to the existence of non-zero, and asymmetrics cross-polarization coupling coefficients between a microdisk and a waveguide bus, high Q (∼10,000) overcoupled microdisks with minimal internal losses and sharp bending curvature (small radii) vertically coupled to a narrow-width ridge waveguide can be engineered as a proper candidate for a narrow-band polarization rotator. A semi-analytical calculation method is presented to realize microdisk-waveguide system as a polarization rotator.     

Engineering optical gradient force from coupled surface plasmon polariton modes in nanoscale plasmonic waveguides

We explore the dispersion properties and optical gradient forces from mutual coupling of surface plasmon polariton(SPP) modes at two interfaces of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic metamaterial cladding.With Maxwell's equations and Maxwell stress tensor,we calculate and compare the dispersion relation and optical gradient force for symmetric and antisymmetric SPP modes in two kinds of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides.The numerical results show that the optical gradient force between two coupled hyperbolic metamaterial waveguides can be engineered flexibly by adjusting the waveguide structure parameters.Importantly,an alternative way to boost the optical gradient force is provided through engineering the hyperbolic metamaterial cladding of suitable orientation.These special optical properties will open the door for potential optomechanical applications,such as optical tweezers and actuators.