Mid-Infrared Silicon Photonics for Communications

Mashanovich, Goran Z.; Cao, Wei; Qu, Zhibo; Li, Ke; Thomson, David J.; Nedeljković, Miloš; Hagan, David; Knights, Andrew P.

doi:10.7251/ijeec1901032m

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In this context, we demonstrated the first silicon TO switch with graphene heaters operating at 2-μm mid-infrared waveband, which is also considered a new communication window for the next-generation optical communication [ 59 ] to meet the urgent demand for expanding the bandwidth capacity [ 60 , 61 ]. We fabricated two types of graphene-based TO devices based on 220 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband

Zhong

Zhang

et al. 2022

Nanomaterials

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The mid-infrared (MIR, 2–20 μm) waveband is of great interest for integrated photonics in many applications such as on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing, and optical communication. Thermo-optic switches are essential to large-scale integrated photonic circuits at MIR wavebands. However, current technologies require a thick cladding layer, high driving voltages or may introduce high losses in MIR wavelengths, limiting the performance. This paper has demonstrated thermo-optic (TO) switches operating at 2 μm by integrating graphene onto silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures. The remarkable thermal and optical properties of graphene make it an excellent heater material platform. The lower loss of graphene at MIR wavelength can reduce the required cladding thickness for the thermo-optics phase shifter from micrometers to tens of nanometers, resulting in a lower driving voltage and power consumption. The modulation efficiency of the microring resonator (MRR) switch was 0.11 nm/mW. The power consumption for 8-dB extinction ratio was 5.18 mW (0.8 V modulation voltage), and the rise/fall time was 3.72/3.96 μs. Furthermore, we demonstrated a 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) TO switch with a high extinction ratio of more than 27 dB and a switching rise/fall time of 4.92/4.97 μs. A comprehensive analysis of the device performance affected by the device structure and the graphene Fermi level was also performed. The theoretical figure of merit (2.644 mW−1μs−1) of graphene heaters is three orders of magnitude higher than that of metal heaters. Such results indicate graphene is an exceptional nanomaterial for future MIR optical interconnects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband

Zhong

Zhang

et al. 2022

Nanomaterials

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“…The strong and specific absorption of these molecules in the mid-IR range can thus be used to detect small analyte concentrations, potentially up to parts per billion (ppb), having a high impact in sensing and monitoring applications in fields like environmental monitoring [3], hazard detection [4], industrial process control [5], astronomy [6] or non-invasive medical diagnostics [7]. Moreover, the use of mid-IR PICs has also been proposed as a powerful solution to overcome several major existing drawbacks in other important areas such as thermal imaging [8] or optical communications [9,10]. Among the different materials investigated to develop mid-IR photonic circuits [11][12][13][14][15][16], germanium (Ge) based circuits benefit from both the compatibility with large scale and highperformance fabrication tools and a wide transparency window, extending up to 15 µm wavelength.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ge-rich graded SiGe waveguides and interferometers from 5 to 11 µm wavelength range

Montesinos‐Ballester¹,

Vakarin²,

Liu³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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The mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelength range hosts unique vibrational and rotational resonances of a broad variety of substances that can be used to unambiguously detect the molecular composition in a non-intrusive way. Mid-IR photonic-integrated circuits (PICs) are thus expected to have a major impact in many applications. Still, new challenges are posed by the large spectral width required to simultaneously identify many substances using the same photonic circuit. Ge-rich graded SiGe waveguides have been proposed as a broadband platform approach for mid-IR PICs. In this work, ultra-broadband waveguides are experimentally demonstrated within unprecedented wavelength range, efficiently guiding light from 5 to 11 µm. Interestingly, losses from 0.5 to 1.2 dB/cm are obtained between 5.1 and 8 µm wavelength, and values below 3 dB/cm are measured from 9.5 to 11.2 µm wavelength. An increase of propagation losses is seen between 8 and 9.5 µm; however, values stay below 4.6 dB/cm in the entire wavelength range. A detailed analysis of propagation losses is reported, supported by secondary ion mass spectrometry measurement, and different contributions are analyzed: silicon substrate absorption, oxygen impurities, free carrier absorption by residual doping, sidewall roughness and multiphonon absorption. Finally, Mach-Zehnder interferometers are characterized, and wideband operation is experimentally obtained from 5.5 to 10.5 µm wavelength.

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Mid-Infrared Silicon Photonics for Communications

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband

Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband

Ge-rich graded SiGe waveguides and interferometers from 5 to 11 µm wavelength range

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