Optimization, bandwidth and the effect of loss on the characteristics of the coupled ring reflector

Reflection and group delay characteristics of the coupled ring reflector (CRR), consisting of two identical microrings coupled to each other and to a bus waveguide providing feedback, is analytically and numerically investigated under loss-free and lossy conditions and subject to arbitrary (asymmetric) positioning of the couplers. Allowing for a variable coupling strength, the spectral locations where the extreme values of the reflectivity occur as well as its bandwidth are determined and their sensitivity to loss evaluated. Critical coupling conditions that determine the shape and the turning points of the reflectance spectrum, and their sensitivity to loss are obtained. Attention is paid to the bandwidth maximization satisfying a prescribed ripple tolerance within the passband. Group delay in the presence of loss and circuit parameter variations is also treated.     

Group delay and dispersion analysis of compound high order microring resonator all-pass filter

In this paper, we propose a novel compound high order microring resonator all-pass filter employing two cascaded microrings and an assistant microring. It improves the dispersion compensation ability and provides a wide bandwidth. The group delay range is effectively extended, which provides flexibility in choosing the geometrical parameters of the microring for technical convenience and bend loss improvement. The careful design of coupling coefficients can optimize the group delay response. This device is able to provide dispersion compensation to systems such as the high speed dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM) optical fiber links.     

Single-photon all-optical switching using coupled microring resonators

We study the nonlinear phase response of a microring resonator coupled to a bus waveguide and the use of this nonlinear phase shift to store information in the microring resonator and enhance the switching characteristics of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). By introducing coupling between adjacent microring resonators, the switching characteristics of the MZI can be exponentially enhanced as a function of the number of microring resonators, when compared to the linear enhancement for uncoupled resonators. With only a few moderate-finesse microring resonators, the switching power can be reduced to attowatt level, allowing for photonic switching devices that operate at single-photon level in ordinary optical waveguides.      

Analysis of microring filter with two embedded microring

In this paper, a microring resonator with two embedded microring (MRTEM) has been presented and studied theoretically. Transfer matrix method (TMM) has been used to simulate MRTEM and analyze the relations between add/drop spectrum and embedded microring arrangements. Three kinds of embedded microring arrangements have been proposed and analyzed by TMM. The theoretical and simulation results show that the Q factor of our structure is higher than that of traditional microring structure and the spectrum of MRTEM is independent on embedded arrangements.     

Analysis of polymer electro-optic microring resonator switches

The structure and the principle for the polymer electro-optic microring resonator (MRR) switch are proposed as well as the transfer functions. The structural parameters are optimized; the transmission characteristics are analyzed including the output power, switching time, switching voltage, insertion loss, and crosstalk. When the operation voltage is 0 V, the insertion loss and crosstalk are ∼1.2 and −20.2 dB, respectively; when the operation voltage is 10.0 V, those are ∼0.35 and −20.0 dB, respectively. Furthermore, a novel method is presented for analyzing time-domain response of the device and the switching time is determined to be ∼10.71 ps. These results indicate the favorable switching functions of the designed device.     

An efficient method for solving spectral changes of microring resonator

Parameter optimization is performed, transmission characteristics are analyzed, and effects of fabrication errors are investigated for a lateral coupling microring resonator (MRR). Simulated results show that the fabrication errors result in the shift and shape change of the transmission spectrum compared with the designed case without errors. In order to reduce spectral changes, an efficient compensation method of fabrication errors is investigated.     

Characteristic analysis of series-cascaded microring resonator arrays

In terms of the coupled mode theory, novel formulations of the transfer functions are presented for a series-cascaded microring resonator (MRR) array. Using these formulas, transmission characteristics are analyzed and some parameters are optimised for such a polymer device. Simulation results show that when several microrings are serially cascaded to form a MRR array, the passband becomes steep, and the nonresonant light and the crosstalk become weak.     

Simulation of ZnO-coated SOI microring resonant shift response to ethanol and ammonia

A compact silicon-on-insulator microring resonator coated with porous ZnO layer for gas sensing is proposed in this paper. Based on the sensing system designed, we simulated the output spectra of two different sample gases, ethanol vapor and ammonia gas. The variable gas concentration we choose in this work range from 0 to 3‰. The molecule sizes of them are in different orders of magnitude, leading the sensitivity curves to show thoroughly different trends. The significant difference of two curves suggests that these two types of reducing gas obey different absorption principles depending on the size disparity between gas molecules and ZnO nanocrystals coated on ridge waveguide.     

DQPSK demodulation using integrated silicon microring resonators

In this paper, we fabricate an ultra-small 20 Gb/s differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) demodulator using silicon based microring resonators and show that the separation between the microring resonance and optical carrier can be tuned for DQPSK demodulation at different bit rates. The double-waveguide microring resonators enable detection of I (in phase) and Q (quadrature phase) signals as well as inverted I and Q signals simultaneously. Experimental verification is performed for DQPSK demodulation using a single waveguide microring. We generate DQPSK signal in a serial configuration and demodulate the I or Q channel by offsetting the resonance peak. The offset between the resonance and center carrier is adjusted to be 4.87 GHz and the phase shift (phase offset) is calculated to be exactly π/4.     

Modeling of coupling loss in ultra-compact SOI microring resonators

Ultra-compact microring resonators, made of high index contrast (HIC)-silicon on insulator (SOI) materials, have become key optical devices in integrated photonics systems. Both computer simulations and actual experiments have showed that coupling loss was a significant contributor to the total losses in ultra-compact microring resonators. In this paper, a computable model derived from step approximation method was present to theoretically determine the coupling loss. Excellent matching results between the model and literatures were achieved. The proposed model can be applied to evaluate the coupling loss for microring resonators with various geometries and guide the design of low loss optical devices based on ultra-compact microring resonators.     

Box-like spectral response of 2-D microring resonator arrays

In terms of the coupled mode theory and the transfer matrix technique, novel formulas of the transfer functions are presented for a 2-D microring resonator array. By using these formulas, transmission characteristics are analyzed for this kind of Si based polymer device. Simulation shows that by means of parallel-cascading multiple microrings in every filter element, the passband can be flattened, and the box-like spectral response can be formed; in terms of series-cascading such several filter elements, the passband becomes precipitous, and the non-resonant light and the crosstalk become weak.     

Predistortion techniques for synthesizing coupled microring filters with loss

A general method based on the predistortion technique is presented for determining the optimum coupling parameters of multiple-coupled microring filters in the presence of known uniform resonator loss. The technique involves predistorting the filter transfer function by shifting its poles and zeros to compensate for loss in the microring resonators due to material absorption, surface roughness scattering, coupling loss and bending loss. It is shown that by sacrificing some in-band insertion loss, both the amplitude and group delay responses of the filter can be recovered when loss is present. Application of the method to synthesizing lossy microring filters in both the digital z-domain and analog s-domain will be presented. The proposed technique is general in that it can be applied to both amplitude and phase filters constructed of coupled microresonators in the most general two-dimensional coupling topology.     

All-optical flip-flop composed of a single nonlinear passive microring coupled to two straight waveguides

Microrings can have different hysteresis characteristics at their different resonance frequencies. They can be used as a multi-hysteresis optical component. In this paper an optical D-flip-flop circuit composed of a single nonlinear passive microring coupled to two straight waveguide based on the Kerr effect is proposed. The proposed circuit can operate as an optical digital circuit which synchronizes input DATA with the CLOCK of the circuit. A simple analytical model for hysteresis design and the transient analysis of the proposed D-flip-flop are presented. According to our model, the switching time of the flip-flop is in the order of 10 ps.     

Proposal for loadable and erasable optical memory unit based on dual active microring optical integrators

A novel approach for loadable and erasable optical memory unit based on dual microring optical integrators is proposed and studied. The optical integrator, which can generate an optical step function for data storing, is synthesized using active media for loss compensation and a tunable phase shifter for data reading at any time. The input data into the memory is return-to-zero (RZ) signal, and the output data read from the memory is also RZ format with a narrower pulse width. An optical digital register based on the proposed optical memory unit is also investigated and simulated, which shows the potential for large scale data storage and serial-to-parallel data conversion. A great number of such memory units can be densely integrated on a photonic circuit for future large scale data storage and buffer.     

Optimization and analysis of series-coupled microring resonator arrays

In terms of the coupled mode theory and transfer matrix technique, novel formulas of the amplitude coupling ratios and transfer functions are presented for a series-coupled microring resonator (MRR) array. By using these formulas, parameters are optimized, and transmission characteristics including the transmission spectrum and the insertion loss are analyzed for a SiN/SiO₂ series-coupled MRR array on Si substrate. The box-like spectral response is successfully obtained owing to the proper selection of the amplitude coupling ratio between the channel and the ring, and that between adjacent rings, as well as the number of series-coupled rings.     

The nature of spurious mode suppression in extended FSR microring multiplexers

A systematic approach to the design of extended free spectral range (FSR) series coupled microring multiplexers is described. The aim is to achieve large extension ratios and adequate suppression of the spurious interstitial modes, while moderating radiation enhancing ring diameter reduction as much as possible. Computer simulated results of the transmission and group delay characteristics are presented together with a universal plot for spurious mode suppression vs. relative ring diameter reduction. The significance of closely spaced twin resonances in the extended stopband is recognized. The effect of loss on filter performance, in the passband and in the extended stopband, is also briefly discussed.     

聚合物串联耦合双环电光开关的优化

利用耦合模理论、电光调制理论和微环谐振理论,提出一个聚合物串联耦合双环电光开关器件模型,在1.55 μm谐振波长下对该器件进行了模拟和优化.结果为：微环波导芯截面尺寸为1.6×1.6 μm2,波导芯与电极间的限制层厚度为1.6 μm,电极厚度为0.15 μm,微环半径为15.2 μm,微环与信道间的耦合间距为0.14 μm,微环与微环间的耦合间距为0.6 μm,输出光谱的3 dB带宽约为0.06 nm,开关电压约为6 V左右,插入损耗约为2.2 dB,串扰约为－20 dB.所设计的双环电光开关较单环型电光开关不仅输出光谱更加平坦陡峭,非谐振光更弱,而且开关电压更低.     

基于绝缘硅的微环谐振可调谐滤波器

采用电子束光刻和感应耦合等离子刻蚀等工艺,研制了一种基于绝缘硅材料的的微环谐振可调谐滤波器.滤波器微环半径为5μm左右,波导截面尺寸为(350～500 nm)×220 nm不等.测试结果表明,波导宽度为450 nm时器件性能最为理想,其自由频谱宽度为16.8 nm,1.55μm波长附近的消光比为22.1 dB.通过对微...     

一种双反射壁型二维光子晶体窄带滤波器

提出了一种基于双反射壁型结构的光子晶体窄带滤波器, 该滤波器由一个单模谐振腔和两个反射壁构成. 通过调节谐振腔与反射壁之间的距离可以改变滤波谱线的带宽. 利用时域有限差分法进行仿真分析, 结果表明, 该滤波器的工作频率在193.40 THz附近, 带宽小于5.9 GHz, 峰值透射率高达94%, 工作区域长度仅有9 μm. 该器件可应用于密集波分复用系统.     

Broad omnidirectional reflectors design using genetic algorithm

A application of genetic algorithm in designing omnidirectional reflectors is reported in this paper. Based on different quasi-periodic dielectric multilayer stacks, we give some optimization examples concerning both quart-wave and non quart-wave systems, and finally we achieve a photonic heterostructure with very broad omnidirectional reflection bandwidth.