Low-loss, low-cross-talk crossings for silicon-on-insulator nanophotonic waveguides

We present compact crossings for silicon-on-insulator photonic wires. The waveguides are broadened using a 3 microm parabolic taper in each arm. By locally applying a lower index contrast using a double-etch technique, loss of confinement is reduced and 97.5% transmission (-1.7 dB) is achieved with only -40 dB cross talk.     

Low-loss submicrometer silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides and corner mirrors

Rib microwaveguides are demonstrated on silicon-on-insulator substrates with Si film thickness of either 380 or 200 nm and a width of 1 microm. Corner mirrors that allow compact 90 degrees turns between two perpendicular waveguides are characterized. Measured propagation losses are approximately 0.4 dB/cm and approximately 0.5 dB/cm for 380-nm and 200-nm Si film, respectively, and mirror losses are approximately 1 dB. This allows the development of applications such as optical interconnects in integrated circuits over propagation distances larger than several centimeters.     

Low-loss silica-on-silicon waveguides

Waveguiding structures are one of the fundamental components of integrated photonic circuitry. Devices with low loss and a linear response across a wide wavelength range are especially desirable. In the present Letter, we have successfully developed and characterized low-loss silica waveguides integrated on a silicon substrate with a novel suspended cylinder geometry. The unique design creates a device that is effectively air clad, resulting in a large refractive index contrast for improved optical field confinement. The measured loss is constant from 658 to 1550 nm, and it is independent of the polarization of the input light and the input power.     

Principal modes in multimode waveguides

We generalize the concept of principal states of polarization and prove the existence of principal modes in multimode waveguides. Principal modes do not suffer from modal dispersion to first order of frequency variation and form orthogonal bases at both the input and the output ends of the waveguide. We show that principal modes are generally different from eigenmodes, even in uniform waveguides, unlike the special case of a single-mode fiber with uniform birefringence. The difference is most pronounced when different eigenmodes possess similar group velocities and when their field patterns vary as a function of frequency. This work may provide a new basis for analysis and control of dispersion in multimode fiber systems.     

Low-loss and highly polarized emission from planar polymer waveguides

The waveguiding properties and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of a blend of light-emitting gain-conjugated polymers were investigated. ASE-induced line narrowing occurs for excitation fluences larger than 100 microJ cm(-2), with a maximum optical-gain coefficient of 8 cm(-1). Energy transfer between the host and guest polymers, significantly reducing the self-absorption, leads to a loss coefficient of the waveguide as low as 0.3 cm(-1), which is believed to be the lowest value reported for active organic gain slabs and a highly polarized emission, with a polarization contrast up to 0.65. These results indicate that gain-conjugated polymer blends are state-of-the-art organic materials for lasing devices.     

Two-photon path-entangled states in multimode waveguides

We experimentally show that two-photon path-entangled states can be coherently manipulated by multimode interference in multimode waveguides. By measuring the output two-photon spatial correlation function versus the phase of the input state, we show that multimode waveguides perform as nearly ideal multiport beam splitters at the quantum level, creating a large variety of entangled and separable multipath two-photon states.     

Transmission characteristics in plasmonic multimode waveguides

In this article, we examine spectral transmission characteristics based on the self-imaging effect in plasmonic multimode waveguides. For the analysis, we calculate the correlation between an input field and the field in the self-imaging plane. We perform full vectorial computations using the Method of Lines as numerical method. The resulting transmission profile is discussed with regards to the attenuation, the even and odd mode sets and for several structural parameters of the plasmonic waveguide. The introduced transmission characteristic may offer the opportunity for the implementation of filtering operations in plasmonic waveguides.     

Low-loss surface modes and lossy hybrid modes in metamaterial waveguides

We show that waveguides with a dielectric core and a lossy metamaterial cladding (metamaterial-dielectric guides) can support hybrid ordinary-surface modes previously only known for metal-dielectric waveguides. These hybrid modes are potentially useful for frequency filtering applications as sharp changes in field attenuation occur at tailorable frequencies. Our results also show that the surface modes of a metamaterial-dielectric waveguide with comparable electric and magnetic losses can be less lossy than the surface modes of an analogous metal-dielectric waveguide with electric losses alone. Through a characterization of both slab and cylindrical metamaterial-dielectric guides, we find that the surface modes of the cylindrical guides show promise as candidates for all-optical control of low-intensity pulses.     

Low-loss chalcogenide waveguides on lithium niobate for the mid-infrared

We demonstrate low-loss chalcogenide (As(2)S(3)) waveguides on a LiNbO(3) substrate for the mid-IR wavelength (4.8 μm). Designed for single-mode propagation, they are fabricated through photolithography and dry-etching technology and characterized on a mid-IR measurement setup with a quantum cascade laser. For straight waveguides, propagation loss as low as 0.33 dB/cm is measured and low-loss bends on the order of 100 μm are simulated, with measurement results showing <3 dB for a 250 μm bend radius. The coupling efficiency is estimated to be 81%. In addition, the influences of variations in width and bend radius are also investigated.     

Low-loss germanium strip waveguides on silicon for the mid-infrared

Mid-infrared photonics in silicon needs low-loss integrated waveguides. While monocrystalline germanium waveguides on silicon have been proposed, experimental realization has not been reported. Here we demonstrate a germanium strip waveguide on a silicon substrate. It is designed for single mode transmission of light in transverse magnetic (TM) polarization generated from quantum cascade lasers at a wavelength of 5.8 μm. The propagation losses were measured with the Fabry-Perot resonance method. The lowest achieved propagation loss is 2.5 dB/cm, while the bending loss is measured to be 0.12 dB for a 90° bend with a radius of 115 μm.     

Optical limiting properties of nonlinear multimode waveguides

An experimental investigation of the transmission of multimode capillary waveguides with a nonlinear absorber in the core shows an enhanced nonlinear absorption relative to the same length of bulk material. The results are consistent with partial mode filling within the cores of the waveguides. This study confirms the promising optical limiting capabilities of multimode nonlinear waveguides and implies that the mode structure should be considered in the design and evaluation of capillary array optical limiters.     

Guided-mode resonances in multimode planar periodic waveguides

<正>Using the effective medium theory and the waveguide eigenvalue equation,we design a multimode planar periodic waveguide.When a plane wave illuminates the grating at the designed angle and wavelength, more than one leaky modes are excited coincidentally.Then the reflection efficiency around this designed angle and wavelength is investigated using a rigorous coupled wave analysis formulation and a gap of reflection peaks is found.Electric field distributions reveal that this high reflectivity gap is due to the coupling between these two coincidentally excited leaky modes.     

Loss calculations in bent multimode optical waveguides

We present a straightforward geometric optics method to calculate the power attenuation induced by a circular bend in the axis of a multimode optical waveguide. The method involves tracing of rays and use of generalized power transmission coefficients. Both slab and fibre waveguides (with either step-index or parabolic core profiles) have been considered; the source has been assumed to be Lambertian.     

Field focusing control in multimode plane-layered waveguides

The possibility of controlling localized fields in multimode regular waveguides on the basis of the interference invariant principle is studied by numerical simulation. It is demonstrated that, by tuning the radiation frequency of an array without changing the initial field distribution at the aperture, it is possible to perform the scanning by a focal spot in a waveguide. Estimates of the efficiency of this method depending on the size of a vertical linear array are presented.     

Metallic waveguide mirrors in polymer film waveguides

A technology for the fabrication of metallic waveguide mirrors is developed. Plane and curved waveguide mirrors, the latter acting in the same way as cylindrical lenses, are realized in benzocyclobutene (BCB) film waveguides. The waveguide mirror structure is dry-etched into the BCB film waveguide. To enhance the reflectivity of the waveguide mirrors, the waveguide edge is metallized. The BCB film waveguide mirrors are characterized with respect to waveguide attenuation and mirror reflectivity. The waveguide attenuation of the processed BCB waveguide is 0.5 dB/cm. Ag-coated BCB waveguide mirrors show a reflectivity of 71%. The efficiency of total internal reflection (TIR, i.e. in the case without metallization) at the dry-etched waveguide edge is 74%. As an application of the BCB waveguide mirrors a hybrid integrated optical module for Fourier-optical transverse mode selection in broad area lasers (BAL) is proposed. Received: 16 May 2001 / Published online: 23 October 2001     

Low-loss amorphous Si waveguides with gradient refractive index cladding structure

Amorphous Si waveguides with gradient refractive index cladding structure are proposed and fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method.Compared with 6 dB/cm for ridge waveguide without gradient cladding,the propagation loss of the gradient cladding waveguides is less than 1 dB/cm with both TE and TM polarizations.     

Low-loss waveguides of benzylidene-aniline derivatives by organic molecular beam heteroepitaxy

An organic nonlinear optical crystal waveguide consisting of 4'-nitrobenzylidene-3-acetamino-4-methoxyaniline (MNBA) and 4'-nitrobenzylidene-3-ethylcarbonylamino-4-methoxyaniline (MNBA-Et) has been fabricated by a two-step heteroepitaxial growth technique. An MNBA-Et homoepitaxial layer used as a buffer layer prevents the formation of a MNBA polycrystalline domain at the heteroepitaxial interface. The MNBA-Et homoepitaxial layer also improves the crystallinity of a single-domain MNBA heteroepitaxial layer. The transmission loss of the MNBA-MNBA-Et slab waveguide is reduced to less than 3 dB/cm by the insertion of the MNBA-Et homoepitaxial layer.