Nanowire-assisted microcavity in a photonic crystal waveguide and the enabled high-efficiency optical frequency conversions

Abstract

We report an indium phosphide nanowire (NW)-induced cavity in a silicon planar photonic crystal (PPC) waveguide to improve the light-NW coupling. The integration of NW shifts the transmission band of the PPC waveguide into the mode gap of the bare waveguide, which gives rise to a microcavity located on the NW section. Resonant modes with Q factors exceeding 10 3 are obtained. Leveraging on the high density of the electric field in the microcavity, the light-NW interaction is enhanced strongly for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion. Second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency generation in the NW are realized with a continuous-wave pump laser in a power level of tens of microwatts, showing a cavity-enhancement factor of 112. The hybrid integration structure of NW-PPC waveguide and the self-formed microcavity not only opens a simple strategy to effectively enhance light-NW interactions, but also provides a compact platform to construct NW-based on-chip active devices.