No abstract

Multiplexing and demultiplexing of optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) are critical operations in mode-division multiplexing communications. Traditional Dammann gratings, spiral phase planes, and optical geometric transformations are regarded as convenient methods for OAM mode (de)multiplexing. However, crosstalk between the different modes and the difficulty of mode multiplexing greatly limit their application to mode-division multiplexing communications. Here, using a set of inversely-designed phase planes, we demonstrate an OAM (de)multiplexer based on multiphase plane light conversion that can enable perfect OAM multiplexing communication. The sorted patterns are Gaussian-like and can be coupled easily into single-mode fiber arrays. Inputs from the fiber array are turned into coaxial OAM modes after the phase planes. OAM mode crosstalk generated by the multiplexer is less than − 20    dB , with insertion loss of less than 2.6 dB. OAM modes are sorted by the demultiplexer with mode crosstalk below − 10    dB , and the sorting results are coupled to the fiber array. OAM modes carrying 10 Gbit/s on–off keying signals were transmitted in a 5 km few-mode fiber. The measured bit-error-rate curves have power penalties of less than 10 dB. The proposed configuration is highly efficient and convenient and will be beneficial for potential applications in quantum information, information processing, and optical communications.

Stokes vector direct detection is a promising, cost-effective technology for short-distance communication applications. Here, we design and fabricate a spin-dependent liquid crystal grating to detect light polarization states. By separating the circular and linear components of incident light, the polarization states can be resolved with accuracy of up to 0.25°. We achieved Stokes vector direct detection of quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), 8PSK, and 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation signals with 32, 16, and 16 GBd rates, respectively. We integrated the system, including the grating, photodetectors, and optical elements, on a miniaturized printed circuit board and demonstrated high-speed optical communications with 16 GBd rate QPSK signals.

The use of coherent optical signal processing in long-distance optical communication systems has dramatically increased data capacity enabling encoding of multiple-bit information in the amplitude and phase of a light beam. Direct detection of phase information of a high-speed modulated light remains challenging and requires an external, local oscillator for referencing, which is expensive for short-reach optical communications, for example, in datacenters. The availability of less complex integrated photonics devices for coherent signal detection would alleviate this bottleneck. On the other hand, phase information of coherent, orthogonally polarized light beams can be extracted from their polarization states and it is, therefore, possible to achieve phase measurements via fast polarization detection. Here we demonstrate an on-chip, high-speed coherent optical signal receiver enabled by spin-orbit coupling in Si-photonics circuitry. In a coherent communication experiment with up to 16 Gbaud/s rate, the high-speed quadrature phase-shift keying signals detected by a Si nanodisk based polarisation measurements at multiple wavelength in the C-band were recovered with a bit error rate below the forward error correction threshold. The proposed on-chip nanodisk coherent receiver shows promise in high-speed coherent optical communication applications where phase detection is required at low cost and small footprint.

Polarimetry has been demonstrated essential in various disciplines, such as optical communications, imaging, and astronomy. On-chip nanostructures for polarization measurements are most expected to replace the conventional bulk elements, and hence minimize the polarimeter for integrated applications. Some on-chip nanophotonic polarimeter via polarization detection has been implemented, in which the separation of two spin polarized states is needed. However, due to the relatively low coupling efficiency or complicated photonic silicon circuits, on-chip polarimetry using a single device still remains challenging. Here, we introduce and investigate an on-chip polarimeter with nanostructures using the inverse design method. The developed device shows the ability to detect the four polarization components of light, two of which are the spin polarizations, and the other two are the linear polarizations. The retrieved Stokes parameters with experimentally tested data are in close agreement with the numerical results. We also show the proof of concept demonstration for high-speed Stokes vector optical signals detection. In the high-speed communication experiment with data rate up to 16 GBd, the detected optical signals via polarization measurements at multiple wavelengths in the C-band were recovered with the bit error rate below the 20% forward error correction threshold. The proposed on-chip polarimeter shows promising performance both in Stokes polarimetry and high-speed optical communication applications.