Low-Loss, Low-Crosstalk, and Large-Scale Optical Switch Based on Silicon Photonics

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their unique capabilities of manipulating light. However, the intractable dispersion and high loss are two major obstacles for attaining high-performance plasmonic devices. Here, a graphene nanoribbon gap waveguide (GNRGW) is proposed for guiding dispersionless gap SPPs (GSPPs) with deep-subwavelength confinement and low loss. An analytical model is developed to analyze the GSPPs, in which a reflection phase shift is employed to successfully deal with the influence caused by the boundaries of the graphene nanoribbon (GNR). It is demonstrated that a pulse with a 4 μm bandwidth and a 10 nm mode width can propagate in the linear passive system without waveform distortion, which is very robust against the shape change of the GNR. The decrease in the pulse amplitude is only 10% for a propagation distance of 1 μm. Furthermore, an array consisting of several GNRGWs is employed as a multichannel optical switch. When the separation is larger than 40 nm, each channel can be controlled independently by tuning the chemical potential of the corresponding GNR. The proposed GNRGW may raise great interest in studying dispersionless and low-loss nanophotonic devices, with potential applications in the distortionless transmission of nanoscale signals, electro-optic nanocircuits, and high-density on-chip communications.

Download Full-text

Scaling capacity of fiber-optic transmission systems via silicon photonics

Nanophotonics ◽

10.1515/nanoph-2020-0309 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Wei Shi ◽

Ye Tian ◽

Antoine Gervais

Keyword(s):

Silicon Photonics ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Large Scale ◽

Recent Progress ◽

Fiber Optic ◽

Rapid Evolution ◽

System Capacity ◽

Disruptive Technology ◽

System Perspective ◽

Silicon Photonic

AbstractThe tremendous growth of data traffic has spurred a rapid evolution of optical communications for a higher data transmission capacity. Next-generation fiber-optic communication systems will require dramatically increased complexity that cannot be obtained using discrete components. In this context, silicon photonics is quickly maturing. Capable of manipulating electrons and photons on the same platform, this disruptive technology promises to cram more complexity on a single chip, leading to orders-of-magnitude reduction of integrated photonic systems in size, energy, and cost. This paper provides a system perspective and reviews recent progress in silicon photonics probing all dimensions of light to scale the capacity of fiber-optic networks toward terabits-per-second per optical interface and petabits-per-second per transmission link. Firstly, we overview fundamentals and the evolving trends of silicon photonic fabrication process. Then, we focus on recent progress in silicon coherent optical transceivers. Further scaling the system capacity requires multiplexing techniques in all the dimensions of light: wavelength, polarization, and space, for which we have seen impressive demonstrations of on-chip functionalities such as polarization diversity circuits and wavelength- and space-division multiplexers. Despite these advances, large-scale silicon photonic integrated circuits incorporating a variety of active and passive functionalities still face considerable challenges, many of which will eventually be addressed as the technology continues evolving with the entire ecosystem at a fast pace.

Download Full-text

A Review on Terahertz Technologies Accelerated by Silicon Photonics

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11071646 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1646

Author(s):

Jingya Xie ◽

Wangcheng Ye ◽

Linjie Zhou ◽

Xuguang Guo ◽

Xiaofei Zang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Integrated Circuit ◽

Silicon Photonics ◽

Large Scale ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Single Chip ◽

Photonic Integrated Circuit ◽

Hybrid Silicon ◽

The Cost ◽

Silicon Based ◽

Thz Applications

In the last couple of decades, terahertz (THz) technologies, which lie in the frequency gap between the infrared and microwaves, have been greatly enhanced and investigated due to possible opportunities in a plethora of THz applications, such as imaging, security, and wireless communications. Photonics has led the way to the generation, modulation, and detection of THz waves such as the photomixing technique. In tandem with these investigations, researchers have been exploring ways to use silicon photonics technologies for THz applications to leverage the cost-effective large-scale fabrication and integration opportunities that it would enable. Although silicon photonics has enabled the implementation of a large number of optical components for practical use, for THz integrated systems, we still face several challenges associated with high-quality hybrid silicon lasers, conversion efficiency, device integration, and fabrication. This paper provides an overview of recent progress in THz technologies based on silicon photonics or hybrid silicon photonics, including THz generation, detection, phase modulation, intensity modulation, and passive components. As silicon-based electronic and photonic circuits are further approaching THz frequencies, one single chip with electronics, photonics, and THz functions seems inevitable, resulting in the ultimate dream of a THz electronic–photonic integrated circuit.

Download Full-text

A Low-Loss High-Directionality Grating Coupler for Integration of An Injection-Locked VCSEL on Silicon Photonics

Asia Communications and Photonics Conference/International Conference on Information Photonics and Optical Communications 2020 (ACP/IPOC) ◽

10.1364/acpc.2020.m4a.157 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yisu Yang ◽

Hao Lei ◽

Yongqing Huang

Keyword(s):

Silicon Photonics ◽

Grating Coupler ◽

Low Loss

Download Full-text

Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano8110910 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. 910 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Rongbo Wu ◽

Min Wang ◽

Jian Xu ◽

Jia Qi ◽

Wei Chu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Roughness ◽

Integrated Circuits ◽

Large Scale ◽

Photonic Integrated Circuits ◽

Surface Patterning ◽

Propagation Loss ◽

Direct Writing ◽

Laser Direct Writing ◽

Low Loss ◽

Atomic Force

In this paper, we develop a technique for realizing multi-centimeter-long lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides with a propagation loss as low as 0.027 dB/cm. Our technique relies on patterning a chromium thin film coated on the top surface of LNOI into a hard mask with a femtosecond laser followed by chemo-mechanical polishing for structuring the LNOI into the waveguides. The surface roughness on the waveguides was determined with an atomic force microscope to be 0.452 nm. The approach is compatible with other surface patterning technologies, such as optical and electron beam lithographies or laser direct writing, enabling high-throughput manufacturing of large-scale LNOI-based photonic integrated circuits.

Download Full-text