Open Access
12 May 2020 Subwavelength self-imaging in cascaded waveguide arrays
Wan-ge Song, Hanmeng Li, Shenglun Gao, Chen Chen, Shining Zhu, Tao Li
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Self-imaging is an important function for signal transport, distribution, and processing in integrated optics, which is usually implemented by multimode interference or diffractive imaging process. However, these processes suffer from the resolution limit due to classical wave propagation dynamics. We propose and demonstrate subwavelength optical imaging in one-dimensional silicon waveguide arrays, which is implemented by cascading straight and curved waveguides in sequence. The coupling coefficient between the curved waveguides is tuned to be negative to reach a negative dispersion, which is an analog to a hyperbolic metamaterial with a negative refractive index. Therefore, it endows the waveguide array with a superlens function as it is connected with a traditional straight waveguide array with positive dispersion. With a judiciously engineered cascading silicon waveguide array, we successfully show the subwavelength self-imaging process of each input port of the waveguide array as the single point source. Our approach provides a strategy for dealing with optical signals at the subwavelength scale and indicates functional designs in high-density waveguide integrations.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Wan-ge Song, Hanmeng Li, Shenglun Gao, Chen Chen, Shining Zhu, and Tao Li "Subwavelength self-imaging in cascaded waveguide arrays," Advanced Photonics 2(3), 036001 (12 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.2.3.036001
Received: 14 February 2020; Accepted: 23 April 2020; Published: 12 May 2020
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CITATIONS
Cited by 26 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Waveguides

Silicon

Dispersion

Metamaterials

Diffraction

Integrated optics

Wave propagation

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