Mode analysis of the UV-written channel waveguide - art. no. 60340J

The effective index method (EIM) was adopted to model the channel waveguide patterned by the UV in photosensitive silica film. The effective indexes of the different dimension symmetrical and asymmetrical channel waveguides were calculated, and the resource of the error of the method was pointed out. At last, the dimension rang to propagate single mode was presented.

Recent progresses of SOI-based photonic devices - art. no. 60201R

SOI (Silicon on Insulator) based photonic devices, including stimulated emission from Si diode, RCE (Resonant Cavity Enhanced) photodiode with quantum structure, MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) optical modulator with high frequency, SOI optical matrix switch and wavelength tunable filter are reviewed in the paper. The emphasis will be played on our recent results of SOI-based thermo-optic waveguide matrix switch with low insertion loss and fast response. A folding re-arrangeable non-blocking 4x4 matrix switch with total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors and a first blocking 16 x 16 matrix were fabricated on SOI wafer. The extinction ratio and the crosstalk are better. The insertion loss and the polarization dependent loss (PDL) at 1.55 mu m increase slightly with longer device length and more bend and intersecting waveguides. The insertion losses are expected to decrease 2-3 dB when anti-reflection films are added in the ends of the devices. The rise and fall times of the devices are 2.1 mu s and 2.3 mu s, respectively.

Novel compact SOI-based reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer using microring resonators - art. no. 60190L

Novel compact design for 4-channel SOI-based reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer using microring resonators is presented and analyzed. Microring resonators have two important attributes as a key new technology for future optical communications, namely functionality and compactness. Functionality refers to the fact that a wide range of desirable filter characteristics can be synthesized by coupling multiple rings. Compactness refers the fact that ring resonators with radii about 30 mu m can lead to large scale integration of devices with densities on the order of 10(4) similar to 10(5) devices per square centimeter. A 4-channel reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer comprises a grid-like array of ridge waveguides which perpendicularly cross through each other. SOI-based resonators consisted of multiple rings at each of the cross-grid nodes serve as the wavelength selective switch, and they can switch an optical signal between two ports by means of tuning refractive index of one of the rings. The thermo-optic coefficient of silicon is 1.86x 10(-4) /K. Thus a temperature rise of 27K will increase the refractive index by 5 x 10(-3), which is enough to cause the switching of our designed microring resonators. The thermo-optic effect is used to suppress the resonator power transfer, rather than to promote loss. Thus, the input signal only suffers small attenuation and simultaneously low crosstalk can be achieved by using multiple rings.

Compact polarization-insensitive arrayed waveguide grating based on SOI material

A compact polarization-insensitive 8x8 arrayed waveguide grating with 100GHz channel spacing at 1.55 mu m is presented on the material of silicon on insulator (SOI). Increasing the epitaxial layer thickness can reduce the birefringence of the waveguide, but the wvaeguide's bend radius also increases at the same time. We choose the SOI wafer with 3.0 mu m epitaxial layer to reduce the device's size and designed the appropriate structure of rib wave-guides to eliminate the polarization dependant wavelength shift. Compared to the other methods of eliminating the polarization dependant wavelength shift, the method is convenient and easy to control the polarization without additional etching process. The index differences between TE0 and TM0 of straight and bend waveguides are 1.4x10(-5) and 3.9x10(-5), respectively. The results showed that the polarization dependant wavelength shift is 0.1nm, and the device size is 1.5x1.0 cm(2).

Structural optimizations of SOI-based single-mode rib waveguide bends

Effects of structure parameters on bend loss of rib silicon-on-insulator (Sol) bend waveguides have been analyzed by means of effective index method (EIM) and 2D bend loss formula. The simulation results indicate that the bend loss decreases with the increase of bend radius and waveguide width, as well as with the decrease of the step factor of the rib waveguide. Moreover, the optional structure parameters have been found when bend waveguides are single-mode.

Color center conversion by femtosecond pulse laser irradiation in LiF : F-2 crystals

We report the observation of intense spontaneous emission of green light from LiF:F-2:F-3(+) centers in active channel waveguides generated in lithium fluoride crystals by near-infrared femtosecond laser radiation. While irradiating the crystal at room temperature with 405 nm light from a laser diode, yellow and green emission was seen by the naked eye. Stripe waveguides were fabricated by translating the crystal along the irradiated laser pulse, and their guiding properties and fluorescence spectra at 540 nm demonstrated. This single-step process inducing a waveguide structure offers a good prospect for the development of a waveguide laser in bulk LiF crystals.

Structuring by multi-beam interference using symmetric pyramids

A method for producing optical structures using rotationally symmetric pyramids is proposed. Two-dimensional structures can be achieved using acute prisms. They form by multi-beam interference of plane waves that impinge from directions distributed symmetrically around the axis of rotational symmetry. Flat-topped pyramids provide an additional beam along the axis thus generating three-dimensional structures. Experimental results are consistent with the results of numerical simulations. The advantages of the method are simplicity of operation, low cost, ease of integration, good stability, and high transmittance. Possible applications are the fabrication of photonic micro-structures such as photonic crystals or array waveguides as well as multi-beam optical tweezers. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Mode field diameter and nonlinear properties of air-core nanowires

Exact solutions of Maxwell's equations describing the lightwave through 3-layer-structured cylindrical waveguide are obtained and the mode field diameter and nonlinear coefficient of air-core nanowires (ACNWs) are numerically calculated. The simulation results show that ACNWs offer some unique optical properties, such as tight field confining ability and extremely high nonlinearity. At a certain wavelength and air core radius, we optimize the waveguide design to maximize the nonlinear coefficient and minimize the mode field diameter. Our results show that the ACNWs may be powerful potential tools for novel micro-photonic devices in the near future.

Effect of Si-Ge interdiffusion on the waveguide properties of SiGe-Si MQW photodetector

Because of Si-Ge interdiffusion in the Si-SiGe interface during the growth process, the square-wave refractive index distribution of a SiGe-Si multiple-quantum-web (MQW) will become smooth. In order to simulate the actual refractive index profile, a staircase approximation is applied. Based on this approach, the dispersion equation of the MQW waveguide is obtained by using a transfer matrix method, The effects of index changes caused by the interdiffusion on the optical field and the characteristics of the photodetector are evaluated by solving the dispersion equation, It is shown that the Si-Ge interdiffusion can result in a reduction of the effective absorption coefficient and the quantum efficiency.

Numerical simulation of quantum directional couplers

A numerical analysis of a quantum directional coupler based on Pi-shaped electron waveguides is presented with use of the scattering-matrix method. After the optimization of the device parameters, uniform output for the two output ports and high directivity are obtained within a wide range of the electron momenta. The electron transfer in the device is found more efficient than that in the previously proposed structures. The study of the shape-dependence of transmission for the device shows that the device structure with smooth boundaries exhibits a much better performance.

TAILORED DFB LASER PROPERTIES BY INDIVIDUALLY CHIRPED GRATINGS USING BENT WAVE-GUIDES

DFB lasers with continuously and arbitrarily chirped gratings of ultrahigh spatial precision are implemented by a method we proposed recently, using bent waveguides on homogeneous grating fields. Choosing individual bending functions we generate special chirping functions and obtain additional degrees of freedom to tailor and improve specific device performances, We present two applications for lasers showing several improved device properties and the effectiveness of our method, First, we implement continuously distributed phase-shifted lasers, revealing a considerably reduced photon pile-up, higher single-longitudinal mode stability, higher output power, lower linewidth, and higher yield than conventional abruptly phase-shifted lasers, Second, a novel tuning principle is applied in chirped multiple-section DFB lasers, showing 5.5-nm wavelength tuning, without any gaps, maintaining high side-mode suppression.

CONTINUOUSLY CHIRPED DFB GRATINGS BY SPECIALLY BENT WAVE-GUIDES FOR TUNABLE LASERS

We have implemented and studied a new type of tunable multiple-section semiconductor distributed feedback (DFB) laser using tailored chirped DFB gratings. Arbitrarily and continuously chirped DFB gratings are defined by bent waveguides on homogeneous grating fields with ultrahigh spatial precision, The mathematical bending functions are optimized in this case to provide enlarged wavelength tuning ranges. We present the results of model calculations, the technological device realization and experimental results of the DFB laser characterization e.g. a tuning range of 5.5 mm without wavelength gaps and high side mode suppression ratio.

High-performance electroabsorption modulator

A 100-μm-long electroabsorption modulator monolithically integrated with passive waveguides at the input and output ports is fabricated through ion implantation induced quantum well intermixing, using only a two-step low-pressure metal-organic vapor phase epitaxial process. An InGaAsP/InGaAsP intra-step quantum well is introduced to the active region to improve the modulation properties. In the experiment high modulation speed and high extinction ratio are obtained simultaneously, the electrical-to-optical frequency response (E/O response) without any load termination reaches to 22 GHz, and extinction ration is as high as 16 dB.

An Improvement on 2× 2 Silicon-on-Insulator Mach-Zehnder Thermo-Optical Switch

An improved 2 ×2 silicon-on-insulator Mach-Zehnder thermo-optical switch is designed and fabricated, which is based on strongly guided multimode interference couplers and single- mode phase-shifting arms. The multimode interference couplers and input/output waveguides are deeply etched to improve coupler performances and coupler-waveguide coupling efficiencies. However, shallow etching is used in the phase-shifting arms to guarantee single-mode property. The strongly guided coupler presents an attractive uniformity about 0. 03 dB and a low propagation loss of -0.6 dB. The 2× 2 switch shows an insertion loss as low as -6.8 dB, where the fiber-waveguide coupling loss of -4.3 dB is included, and the response-time is measured as short as 6.8 μs, which are much better than our previous results.

An All-E-Beam Lithography Process for the Patterning of 2D Photonic Crystal Waveguide Devices

We present an all-e-beam lithography (EBL) process for the patterning of photonic crystal waveguides.The whole device structures are exposed in two steps. Holes constituting the photonic crystal lattice and defects are first exposed with a small exposure step size (less than 10nm). With the introduction of the additional proximity effect to compensate the original proximity effect, the shape, size, and position of the holes can be well controlled.The second step is the exposure of the access waveguides at a larger step size (about 30nm) to improve the scan speed of the EBL. The influence of write-field stitching error can be alleviated by replacing the original waveguides with tapered waveguides at the joint of adjacent write-fields. It is found experimentally that a higher exposure efficiency is achieved with a larger step size;however,a larger step size requires a higher dose.