Multiple application segments from data transmission to sensing drive the demand for high-performance photonic integrated circuits. We review advancements in silicon photonics manufacturing platform for datacom and multi-Tb/s optical interconnects.
Scaling data centers to 200 Gbps/lane with direct detection may not provide sufficient link budget for optical switches. Analog coherent detection leverages phase and polarization of optical signals to scale efficiently without requiring digital signal processing and employs integrated lasers to maximize link budgets for optical switches. We report the first O-band silicon photonics coherent transmitter integrated with hybrid semiconductor optical amplifiers and tunable lasers. The laser demonstrated <6 dBm output power with ∼700 kHz linewidths across its 14 nm tuning spectrum. 64 Gbaud QPSK transmission was demonstrated with BER ∼4e-4 and ∼6.6 pJ/bit energy-efficiency when utilizing SiGe BiCMOS drivers.
Photonic integration is one of the important ways to realize low cost and small form factor optical transceivers for future high-speed high capacity I/O applications in computing systems. The photonic integration on silicon platform is particularly attractive because of the CMOS photonics and electronics process compatibility. In this paper, we present design and fabrication of a silicon photonic integrated circuit that is capable of transmitting data at hundreds gigabits per second. In such an integrated chip, 8 high-speed silicon optical modulators with a 1:8 wavelength demultiplexer and an 8:1 wavelength multiplexer are fabricated on a single silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. We review the recent results of individual silicon modulator based on electric-field-induced carrier depletion in a SOI waveguide containing a reverse biased pn junction. We characterize the individual multiplexer/demultiplexer as well as the integrated chip. The basic functionality of the photonic integration is demonstrated.
High-speed silicon optical modulator is one of key components for integrated silicon photonic chip aiming at Tb/s data
transmission for next generation communication networks as well as future high performance computing applications. In
this paper we review the recent development of the silicon modulator. In particular, we present a high-speed and highly
scalable silicon optical modulator based on the free carrier plasma dispersion effect. The fast refractive index modulation
of the device is due to electric-field-induced carrier depletion in a Silicon-on-Insulator waveguide containing a reverse
biased pn junction. To achieve high-speed performance, a traveling-wave design is employed to allow co-propagation of
electrical and optical signals along the waveguide. We demonstrate high-frequency modulator optical response with 3
dB bandwidth of ~20 GHz and data transmission up to 30 Gb/s. We also highlight the future device optimization for 40
Gb/s and beyond.
The transfer function of a photonic filter is significantly influenced by the profile of the waveguides forming the device. In this work we discuss requirements for devices based on two geometries, rib and wire shaped waveguides in Silicon-on-Insulator, from both the modal and polarisation standpoints. General guidelines and recommendations for the design of single-mode and polarisation-independent ring resonator filters with large Free Spectral Range (>30nm) are given, together with supportive experimental results.
With a reverse biased p-i-n structure embedded in a silicon waveguide, we efficiently reduced the nonlinear loss due to two photon absorption induced free carrier absorption and achieved continuous-wave net Raman amplification and lasing in a silicon waveguide on a single chip. The low-loss p-i-n waveguides also enabled efficient wavelength conversion in the 1550 nm band via four-wave mixing in silicon. Here we report the performance characteristics of the silicon based laser, amplifier as well as wavelength converter for different device configurations. With a pump wavelength at 1550 nm, the laser output at 1686 nm is single mode with over 55 dB side mode suppression and has less than 80 MHz linewidth. At 25V reverse bias, the threshold pump power is ~180 mW. The slope efficiency is ~4.3% for a single side output and a total output power of >10 mW can be reached at a pump power of 500 mW. The laser wavelength can be tuned by adjusting the wavelength of the pump laser. A 3 dB on-chip amplification and -8.5 dB wavelength conversion efficiency is achieved in an 8-cm long waveguide at a pump powers of < 640 mW. We demonstrate that a high-speed pseudo-random bit sequence optical data at 10 Gb/s rate can be amplified or converted to a new wavelength channel with clear open eye diagram and no waveform distortion.
With a reverse biased p-i-n structure embedded in a silicon waveguide, we efficiently reduced the nonlinear loss due to two photon absorption induced free carrier absorption and achieved continuous-wave net gain and lasing in a silicon waveguide cavity on a single chip. We report here the laser characterization for different cavity lengths from 1.6 to 8 cm. With a pump wavelength at 1550 nm, the laser output at 1686 nm is single mode with over 55 dB side mode suppression and has less than 80 MHz linewidth. The lasing threshold depends on the p-i-n reverse bias voltage. With 25V bias, the threshold pump power is ~180 mW. The slope efficiency is ~4.3% for a single side output and a total output power of >10 mW can be reached at a pump power of 500 mW. The laser wavelength can be tuned by adjusting the wavelength of the pump laser. In addition to the laser line at Stokes wavelength, a narrow linewidth anti-Stokes line at 1434.3 nm is also generated in the laser cavity through parametric conversion process.
Due to the mature silicon fabrication technology and vast existing infrastructures, silicon photonics has a chance to offer low cost solutions to telecommunications and data communications. It could also enable a chip-scale platform for monolithic integration of optics and microelectronics circuits for applications of optical interconnects for which high data streams are required in a very small footprint. Two key building blocks needed for any silicon based optoelectronics are silicon based light source and high-speed optical modulator. This paper gives an overview of recent results for a fast (>1GHz) silicon modulator and a silicon Raman laser. We present optical characterization of a high speed metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor-based silicon optical modulator. We show that a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) structure with a custom-designed driver circuit results in the realization of a silicon modulator transmitting data at 2.5 Gb/s with an extinction ratio of up to 2.8 dB. In addition we show that by reducing the waveguide dimensions one can improve the phase efficiency. In addition, as single crystal silicon possesses higher (four orders of magnitude) Raman gain coefficient as compared to silica, it is possible to achieve sizeable gain in chip-scale silicon waveguide for optical amplification and lasing. With a 4.8 cm long waveguide containing a reverse biased p-i-n diode, we demonstrate lasing operation using a pulsed pump laser. We achieve ~10% slope efficiency. We in addition model a continuous-wave silicon Raman laser and show that higher conversion efficiency and lower threshold power can be realized with optimised cavity device design.
Recently, we have realised a polarisation independent optical racetrack resonator whose resonant dips for TE and TM align to better than 1pm. The devices had a Free Spectral Range (FSR) of only several hundred picometres. This in large part was to the relatively large bend radius (~ 400μm) designed and fabricated with initial focus on producing low bend loss devices. Modelling of the bend loss of the same dimension devices shows that the bend radius can be reduced significantly (down to ~25μm) to produce race track ring resonator with an FSR that is approximately 400% larger than that of those previously fabricated, whilst retaining polarisation independence. This paper will focus on the proposed enhancement of these devices as well as the impetus for their investigation.
In this paper the optical characterization of a novel, metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) capacitor-based, high speed, silicon optical modulator is presented. By using a capacitor based rather than the conventional p-i-n junction based architecture to modulate the free carrier density inside the waveguide, we show the realization of a fast, 2.5-GHz, optical modulator.
Because of their compact size, ring resonators can be a cost effective solution for many Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) components, as well as many low cost applications such as part of optical sensor circuits, or low cost optical signal processing. Modulators, filters, add-drop multiplexers, and switches are all components that can be realised with a ring resonator. Their potentially large Free Spectral Range (FSR), finesse, and quality factor, together with the potential for low cost fabrication, make them a viable alternative to many current DWDM devices. However, for such devices to be commercially viable, they need to be insensitive to the polarisation state of the input signal. The results obtained herein show that a single input/output optical racetrack resonator has been fabricated so that the minima in the resonance spectra align to better than 1pm. The rings also exhibit relatively low loss with measured Q-factors of approximately 90,000 and finesse values of 12.
In an effort to determine low-cost alternatives for components currently used in DWDM, optical ring resonators are currently being investigated. The well-known microfabrication techniques of silicon, coupled with the low propagation loss of single crystal silicon, make SOI an attractive material. Laterally coupled racetrack resonators utilising rib waveguides have been fabricated and preliminary results are discussed. An extinction ratio of 15.9 dB and a finesse of 11 have been measured.
We present design, fabrication, and testing of a high-speed all-silicon optical phase modulator in silicon-on-insulator (SOI). The optical modulator is based on a novel silicon waveguide phase shifter containing a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. We show that, under the accumulation condition, the drive voltage induced charge density change in the silicon waveguide having a MOS capacitor can be used to modulate the phase of the optical mode due to the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect. We experimentally determined the phase modulation efficiency of the individual phase shifter and compared measurements with simulations. A good agreement between theory and experiment was obtained for various phase shifter lengths. We also characterized both the low- and high-frequency performance of the integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulator. For a MZI device containing two identical phase shifters of 10 mm, we obtained a DC extinction ratio above 16 dB. For a MZI modulator containing a single-phase shifter of 2.5 mm in one of the two arms, the frequency dependence of the optical response was obtained by a small signal measurement. A 3-dB bandwidth exceeding 1 GHz was demonstrated. This modulation frequency is two orders of magnitude higher than has been demonstrated in any silicon modulators based on current injection in SOI.
In silicon based photonic circuits, optical modulation is usually performed via the plasma dispersion effect or via the thermo-optic effect, both of which are relatively slow processes. Until relatively recently, the majority of the work in Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) was based upon waveguides with cross sectional dimensions of several microns. This limits the speed of devices based on the plasma dispersion effect due to the finite transit time of charge carriers, and on the thermo-optic effect due to the volume of the silicon device. Consequently moving to smaller dimensions will increase device speed, as well as providing other advantages of closer packing density, smaller bend radius, and cost effective fabrication. As a result, the trend in recent years has been a move to smaller waveguides, of the order of 1 micron in cross sectional dimensions. In this paper we discuss both the design of small waveguide modulators (of the order of ~1 micron) together with a presentation of preliminary experimental results. In particular two approaches to modulation are discussed, based on injection of free carriers via a p-i-n device, and via thermal modulation of a ring resonator.
Optical intersubband response of a multiple quantum well (MQW)-embedded microcavity driven by a coherent pump field is studied theoretically. The n-type doped MQW structure with three subbands in the conduction band is sandwiched between a semi-infinite medium and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). A strong pump field couples the two upper subbands and a weak field probes the two lower subbands. To describe the optical response of the MQW-embedded microcavity, we adopt a semi- classical nonlocal response theory. Taking into account the pump-probe interaction, we derive the probe-induced current density associated with intersubband transitions from the single-particle density-matrix formalism. By incorporating the current density into the Maxwell equation, we solve the probe local field exactly by means of Green's function technique and the transfer-matrix method. We obtain an exact expression for the probe absorption coefficient of the microcavity. For a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs MQW structure sandwiched between a GaAs/AlAs DBR and vacuum, we performed numerical calculations of the probe absorption spectra for different parameters such as pump intensity, pump detuning and cavity length. We find that the probe spectrum is strongly dependent on these parameters. In particular, we find that the combination of the cavity effect and the Autler-Townes effect results in a triplet in the optical spectrum of the MQW system. The optical absorption peak value and its location can be feasibly controlled by varying the pump intensity and detuning.
KEYWORDS: Near field scanning optical microscopy, Glasses, Near field optics, Image acquisition, Cladding, Image processing, Gold, Particles, Nanoparticles, Image transmission
Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is begin studied to achieve optical resolution much better than the diffraction limit. Improved resolution is realized when the sample is in the near field of the probe. Strong near-field coupling between sample and probe complicates image analysis. Experiments with well characterized tips and simple samples are needed to produce basic NSOM images. Detailed modeling able to reproduce imags and identify essential features in image formation is required. We analyze experimental NSOM transmission images of nanochannel glass arrays and of Au nanoparticles obtained in illumination mode. We use several approaches, including the discrete dipole method and the transfer matrix method, to simulate these images. Experimental and simulated images are compared to identify the contributions of tip-field structure, sample scattering, and the collection process to the images and to provide a clear interpretation of these NSOM images.
Experimental and theoretical investigations of the optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) from ultrathin niobium films embedded in a dielectric are presented. The dependence of the intensity of second-harmonic emission on the film thickness (in the range from 6 to 42 angstroms) and the angular dependencies of SHG are investigated for different polarization configurations. The thickness dependencies of the second-harmonic intensity reveal resonant behavior: the p(omega )-to-p2(omega ) second-harmonic intensity exhibits a pronounced maximum for a film thickness of approximately 15 angstroms while the s(omega )-to-p2(omega ) second-harmonic signal exhibits a step-like increase at the same thickness. By modeling the metal film as a symmetric quantum well, a microscopic local-field calculation of the second-harmonic generation is performed, and numerical results for the thickness and angular dependencies of the second-harmonic energy reflection coefficient are presented. Using simply infinite-barrier wave functions together with a self-field approximation the theoretical calculations qualitatively describe the observed thickness dependence of the second-harmonic generation which can be accounted for by the intersubband transitions in the quantum wells formed by the niobium films.
A microscopic local-field calculation of the infrared second-harmonic generation associated with intersubband transitions in a single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well structure subjected to an applied electric field is presented. Taking as a starting point a fundamental selfconsistent integral equation for the local field, the p-polarized first-harmonic fields inside the quantum well are calculated exactly. The result for the local-field calculation at the first-harmonic frequency is used to calculate the p-polarized second-harmonic local field. The conversion efficiency of the second-harmonic generation from the quantum well is determined. Numerical calculations of the frequency spectra of the second-harmonic powers are presented for different applied fields. The numerical results show that strong second-harmonic generation occurs in the vicinity of the resonance frequencies for the first- and second-harmonic local field inside the quantum well. The influence of the applied field on the optical second- harmonic generation is investigated. It is demonstrated that the presence of the dc bias leads to a blue-shift of the resonance frequencies in the SH energy reflection spectra stemming from the quantum-confined Stark effect, and that the maximum value of the SH power decreases when the applied field is increased.
The optical anisotropy of GdBa2Cu3O7-x epitaxial films has been experimentally investigated by use of ellipsometry and polarized reflectance measurements. The individual principal components of the dielectric tensor of this new high-Tc compound are derived from ellipsometric measurements performed in the visible and infrared frequency regions. Our results show that this compound is highly anisotropic in the near infrared region, and that it exhibits strongly free-electron-like behavior in the c-axis direction at optical frequencies.
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