Ultralow-power all-optical processing of high-speed data signals in deposited silicon waveguides

Wang, Ke-Yao; Petrillo, Keith G.; Foster, Mark A.; Foster, Amy C.

doi:10.1364/oe.20.024600

Cited by 47 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In recent years, several research groups have demonstrated superior nonlinear optical properties of a-Si:H with respect to c-Si in the 1.5-µm telecom band, and have used this to demonstrate ultralow power wavelength conversion [12], and spectral broading due to self-phase modulation [6]. All-optical switching has been demonstrated in c-Si microring resonators [16], but, to the best of our knowledge, it has not been reported in integrated a-Si:H microresonators of any kind.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigations of nonlinear properties have focused either on characterization of material nonlinearity through self-phase modulation experiments [6], pump-probe experiments to characterize waveguides [7,8], or fourwave mixing for wavelength conversion [9,10]. There have also been recent demonstrations of parametric amplification [11] and low-power optical frequency conversion of optical data signals [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Picosecond all-optical switching in hydrogenated amorphous silicon microring resonators

Pelc¹,

Rivoire²,

Vo³

et al. 2014

Opt. Express

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Abstract:We utilize cross-phase modulation to observe all-optical switching in microring resonators fabricated with hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Using 2.7-ps pulses from a mode-locked fiber laser in the telecom C-band, we observe optical switching of a cw telecom-band probe with full-width at half-maximum switching times of 14.8 ps, using approximately 720 fJ of energy deposited in the microring. In comparison with telecom-band optical switching in undoped crystalline silicon microrings, a-Si:H exhibits substantially higher switching speeds due to reduced impact of free-carrier processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Picosecond all-optical switching in hydrogenated amorphous silicon microring resonators

Pelc¹,

Rivoire²,

Vo³

et al. 2014

Opt. Express

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“…Here, by carefully controlling the geometry of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguide for near-zero GVD at the pump wavelength, we demonstrate optical amplification over more than 440 nm (55 THz). This represents the largest parametric gain bandwidth yet demonstrated in either c-Si or a-Si:H nanowaveguides.The a-Si:H waveguide is fabricated using standard CMOS manufacturing techniques as detailed in [7]. The cross-section of the fabricated waveguide is 198 nm x 500 nm and the waveguide length is 6 mm.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The a-Si:H waveguide is fabricated using standard CMOS manufacturing techniques as detailed in [7]. The cross-section of the fabricated waveguide is 198 nm x 500 nm and the waveguide length is 6 mm.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Broad-bandwidth Near-IR Parametric Amplification in Amorphous Silicon Waveguides

Wang

Foster

2013

Cleo: 2013

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We report broad-bandwidth optical parametric amplification using a 6-mm-long hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) waveguide. Amplification is obtained over more than 55 THz (~440 nm) centered at telecommunication wavelengths.OCIS codes: (190.4380) Nonlinear optics, four-wave mixing; (190.4390) Nonlinear optics, integrated optics CMOS-compatible on-chip optical amplification is a crucial building block for realizing on-chip optical networks. The use of crystalline silicon (c-Si), which exhibits a high linear and nonlinear refractive index and is compatible with current micro-fabrication technology, has resulted in a variety of exciting demonstrations including broadbandwidth amplification using parametric processes [1] and oscillation utilizing the Raman effect [2]. However, in c-Si the net parametric amplification is limited by two photon absorption (TPA) and TPA-induced free carrier absorption (FCA) to be 5.2 dB at telecommunication wavelengths in pulsed experiments. Strong (50 dB) and broadband (37.5 THz) parametric amplification were obtained in the mid-infrared regime where TPA is avoided [3], however, operating within this long-wavelength regime limits the applications for telecommunications. Exploiting the Raman effect has resulted in 13 dB amplification, but the crystalline nature of the material inherently limits the gain to a very narrow bandwidth (~2 nm) [2].Recently, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) has been shown to possess an extremely high optical nonlinearity with reduced impact of TPA [4][5], and parametric amplification as high as 26.5 dB has been achieved in pulsed experiments [6]. However, due to the relatively high group velocity dispersion (GVD) of ~1600 ps/(nm•km), the net amplification bandwidth was limited to ~110 nm [6]. Here, by carefully controlling the geometry of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguide for near-zero GVD at the pump wavelength, we demonstrate optical amplification over more than 440 nm (55 THz). This represents the largest parametric gain bandwidth yet demonstrated in either c-Si or a-Si:H nanowaveguides.The a-Si:H waveguide is fabricated using standard CMOS manufacturing techniques as detailed in [7]. The cross-section of the fabricated waveguide is 198 nm x 500 nm and the waveguide length is 6 mm. The propagation loss of the waveguide is measured to be ~3.5 dB/cm in TE-mode. The TE-mode profile and the cross section are plotted in Fig. 1(a). Fig. 1(b) shows the SEM picture of the fabricated a-Si:H waveguide. We numerically calculate the GVD of the designed waveguide and the curve is plotted in Fig 1(c). The GVD of the waveguide is near zero and anomalous (~5 ps/(nm•km)), in order to obtain broad-bandwidth operation. Fig. 1 (a) Cross-section and TE-mode profile of the designed waveguide. (b) SEM picture of the fabricated aSi:H waveguide. (c) Calculated GVD of the waveguide. (bottom) Experimental setup for the broad band parametric amplification measurement. (OBPF: optical bandpass filter. EDFA: erbium-doped fiber amplifier. HNLF: highly nonlinear fiber. P...

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“…Lower switching energies have been achieved in c-Si photonic crystal resonant cavities [20], but the operating bandwidth is inherently limited due to the resonant cavity structure. Due to the ultra-high nonlinearity of a-Si:H, error-free demultiplexing of a 160-Gb/s OTDM data signal to a 10 Gb/s stream in a 6-mm-long nanowaveguide using ultra-low peak powers of only 50 mW for the switching pump pulse has been achieved [21], representing a reduction in the power requirement by 1 order of magnitude over other CMOS-compatible approaches and can be translated to an energy consumption of 95 fJ/bit (see Fig. 3).…”

Section: A Signal Translationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated nonlinear photonics: emerging applications and ongoing challenges [Invited]

et al. 2014

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Ultralow-power all-optical processing of high-speed data signals in deposited silicon waveguides

Cited by 47 publications

References 26 publications

Picosecond all-optical switching in hydrogenated amorphous silicon microring resonators

Picosecond all-optical switching in hydrogenated amorphous silicon microring resonators

Broad-bandwidth Near-IR Parametric Amplification in Amorphous Silicon Waveguides

Integrated nonlinear photonics: emerging applications and ongoing challenges [Invited]

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