Inverse design of asymmetric Y-junctions for ultra-compact, broadband, and low crosstalk mode (de)multiplexers.

Asymmetric Y-junctions, compared with mode coupling-based devices, possess considerably smaller wavelength dependence and thus are more promising for ultra-broadband mode (de)multiplexing in integrated optics. However, these devices also feature relatively high mode crosstalk and insertion loss. Here, we show that the mode crosstalk and loss of an asymmetric Y-junction can be significantly reduced by optimizing the waveguide shape of the Y-junction using an adjoint-based inverse design. Based on such inverse-designed asymmetric Y-junctions, we realize ultra-compact, broadband, and low crosstalk silicon photonic TE00 & TE1 and TE0 & TE2 mode (de)multiplexers with sizes of only 4.5 × 1.2 µm2 and 6 × 1.4 µm2, respectively. From simulations it is shown that the TE0 & TE1 and TE0 & TE2 mode (de)multiplexers contain wide bandwidths of 160 nm (1460-1620 nm) and 140 nm (1460-1600 nm), respectively, over which the mode crosstalks are below about -20 dB, and the losses are <0.41 dB and <0.88 dB, respectively. The experimental results show that in the corresponding TE0 & TE1 and TE0 & TE2 mode division multiplexing systems, the crosstalks are less than -15.5 dB and -15 dB over the spectral ranges of 1453-1580 nm and 1460-1566 nm, respectively, and the losses are <1.7 dB at 1520 nm and <8.24 dB over the entire measured wavelength range.

Hitless and gridless reconfigurable optical add drop (de)multiplexer based on looped waveguide sidewall Bragg gratings on silicon.

Reconfigurable optical add-drop filters in future intelligent and software controllable wavelength division multiplexing networks should support hitless wavelength switching and gridless bandwidth tuning. The hitless switching implies that the central wavelength of one channel can be shifted without disturbing data transmissions of other channels, while the gridless tuning means that the filter bandwidth can be adjusted continuously. Despite a lot of efforts, very few integrated optical filters simultaneously support the hitless switching of central wavelength and the gridless tuning of bandwidth. In this work, we demonstrate a hitless add-drop filter with gridless bandwidth tunability on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. The filter comprises the two identical multimode anti-symmetric waveguide Bragg gratings (MASWBG) which are connected to a loop. The phase apodization technique is utilized to weaken the intrinsic sidelobe interference of grating-based devices. By sequentially manipulating central wavelengths of the two MASWBGs with the thermo-optical effect, we can reconfigure the spectral response of the filter gridlessly and hitlessly. Specifically, the central wavelength of the device is shifted by 14.5 nm, while its 3 dB bandwidth is tuned from 0.2 nm to 2.4 nm. The dropping loss and the sidelobe suppression ratio (SLSR) are dependent on the bandwidth selected. Measured variation ranges of dropping loss and SLSR are from -1.2 dB to -2.5 dB and from 12.8 dB to 21.4 dB, respectively. The hitless wavelength switching is verified by a data transmission measurement at a bit rate of 25 Gbps.

High-Q antisymmetric multimode nanobeam photonic crystal cavities in silicon waveguides.

Antisymmetric multimode nanobeam photonic crystal cavities (AM-NPCs) are proposed and demonstrated in this paper. Due to transverse symmetry-breaking of the antisymmetric multimode periodic waveguide, anti-crossing of the fundamental mode and 1st-order mode is realized and confirmed by band structure calculation. Two-mode filtering and reflection-free cavity filters based on this characteristic are demonstrated. Experimental results on silicon-on-insulator platform shows that broadband (> 100 nm) reflection suppression (< -10 dB) and high-Q (7 × 104) AM-NPCs can be achieved using existed design methodology and fabrication facility. We also explain resonance splitting of the measured transmission spectra and find resonance-enhanced mode-conversion phenomena in the AM-NPCs.

Broadband tunable filter based on the loop of multimode Bragg grating.

A broadband tunable silicon filter has been demonstrated on silicon-on-insulator platform. The device is based on the loop of multimode anti-symmetric waveguide Bragg grating. A wide bandwidth tunability about 1.455 THz (0.117-1.572 THz) is achieved. The device, functions like a ring, can realize the bandwidth tunable of the drop port and the through port. And, its feature has simultaneous wavelength tuning and no free space ranges limitation. A high out-of-band contrast of 30 dB is achieved with a bandwidth of 1.572 THz (Δλ = 13 nm). The out-of-band contrast is 18 dB at the minimum bandwidth 0.117 THz (Δλ = 1.0 nm).

Broad bandwidth and large fabrication tolerance polarization beam splitter based on multimode anti-symmetric Bragg sidewall gratings.

A novel polarization beam splitter based on an anti-symmetric sidewall Bragg grating in a multimode silicon-on-insulator strip waveguide is demonstrated. Anti-symmetric spatially periodic refractive-index perturbations are designed for strong coupling between the fundamental (TE0) and the first-order transverse electric modes (TE1), while not for transfer magnetic modes. An adiabatic coupler is cascaded at the input-port, so as to drop the TE1 reflection. The Bragg grating has a compact length of ∼20 µm (55 periods). The polarization isolations of the through- and drop-ports at the wavelength of 1557 nm are 34 and 31 dB, respectively. A broad bandwidth of 64 nm and a large fabrication tolerance of 80 nm for polarization isolation over 20 dB are also achieved.

Silicon lateral-apodized add-drop filter for on-chip optical interconnection.

A lateral-apodized add-drop filter is demonstrated in a multimode asymmetric waveguide Bragg grating. This design utilizes two individual superposed gratings with the same sidewall corrugation depth. The strong side lobes of the grating filter are efficiently suppressed by mapping the target apodization profile into lateral shifts between the periods of the two gratings. Compared with other apodized technology, this device is easier to be realized. Experimental results show that the side-lobes suppression ratio can reach 18.5 dB, and a bandwidth of 9.5 nm is achieved by a large corrugation width of 150 nm. The insertion loss at the drop port is only 0.8 dB, and the extinction ratio is up to 24 dB at the through port.

Silicon band-rejection and band-pass filter based on asymmetric Bragg sidewall gratings in a multimode waveguide.

A silicon photonic wire filter based on an asymmetric sidewall Bragg grating in a multimode silicon-on-insulator strip waveguide is demonstrated. The operating principle is based on the contra-directional coupling between the transverse electric fundamental (TE0) and first-order (TE1) modes, which is enabled by the asymmetric spatially periodic refractive-index perturbations. An asymmetric Y-junction is cascaded at the input port of the filter so as to drop the Bragg reflection. Compared with conventional Bragg grating-based filters, this device eliminates the back reflection at the input port and the 6 dB inherent insertion loss at the drop port; moreover, a narrow 3 dB bandwidth can be obtained with a large critical dimension as a result of the weak coupling strength between the TE0 and TE1 modes inside the multimode waveguide. Experimental results show that a bandwidth of ∼2.8 nm is achieved by a large corrugation width of 150 nm. The insertion loss at the drop port is -2.1 dB, and the extinction ratio is -33 dB at the through port.

Compact polarization splitter based on silicon grating-assisted couplers.

Compact polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on grating-assisted couplers is proposed by utilizing contra-directional coupling between two corrugated strip waveguides. The co-directional coupling in the device is greatly suppressed by the designed asymmetric structure. The phase matching condition is only satisfied for TE polarization at the central wavelength of 1550 nm by a spatially periodic refractive-index perturbation. Due to the contra-directional coupling, the device breaks the limit of the precise control of the coupling strength and length. The simulation results show that the presented PBS, with a coupling length of only 19 µm, has a broad working bandwidth (∼40 nm) for a crosstalk below -12 dB. A large fabrication tolerance (±40 nm) for the waveguide width is also achieved.

Silicon mode multi/demultiplexer based on multimode grating-assisted couplers.

A simple and low-crosstalk 1 × 4 silicon mode (de)multiplexer based on multimode grating-assisted-couplers is proposed. Mode transitions can be flexibly controlled by designing the grating period at the phase-matching condition. Due to the contra-directional coupling, precise control of the coupling strength and the coupling length are not needed in the system. Calculation results show that the insertion loss and the 3 dB bandwidths of the device are 0.2 dB and 3.7 nm, 0.34 dB and 7.6 nm, and 0.21 dB and 11.8 nm for the channels which (de)multiplex to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd modes of the bus waveguide, respectively.

FSR-free add-drop filter based on silicon grating-assisted contradirectional couplers.

We propose an add-drop filter with an unlimited free spectral range (FSR). The device is based on grating-assisted contradirectional couplers with silicon-on-insulator ridge waveguides. The intrawaveguide coupling is significantly diminished by distancing the periodically structured corrugated waveguide away from the straight input waveguide. Based on this asymmetric structure, calculated results show that the peak reflectivity of the intrawaveguide coupling is lower than 0.1 dB, while that of the contradirectional coupling is higher than 20 dB. An experimental result of 1.8 dB for the intrawaveguide coupling is obtained. A narrow drop-port bandwidth of 0.8 nm is also achieved experimentally.

Performance influence of FCA and nonlinear FCD to the Mach-Zehnder-Interference based silicon DPSK generation.

Silicon unique modulation mechanism based on free-carrier dispersion (FCD) effect determines that there is operation and performance difference from LiNbO(3) modulator when achieving various optical modulation formats. In this paper, the influence of nonlinear FCD and free carrier absorption (FCA) effect on the return-to-zero (RZ)-DPSK generation scheme is numerically analyzed. Silicon waveguide with p-n diode is adopted and the reverse bias is the key factor which should be chosen carefully. Performance analysis includes two parts: the property of the generated optical signal and the dispersion penalty which is related to chirp. The simulation results show that the output phase of the optical RZ-DPSK signal has undesirable distortion and the power has considerable loss. Furthermore, the simulation of modulator with 20 dB extinction ratio is also performed for relative analysis. The poor extinction ratio will further impact the characteristic. Even the push-pull operation is utilized, there is a residual chirp resulting from FCA and nonlinear FCD effect. This kind of chirp is characterized by the dispersion penalty.

Wavelength-selective 4 × 4 nonblocking silicon optical router for networks-on-chip.

We design and fabricate a wavelength-selective nonblocking 4 × 4 silicon optical router based on microring resonator for use in future integrated photonic interconnection networks. We successfully demonstrate 12 possible I/O routing paths and present 13 nonblocking operating states, including four broadcasting states, with worst-case extinction ratio and cross talk of 21.05 and -21.56 dB, respectively. Thermal tuning is employed to compensate the resonance shift of microring resonators caused by fabrication errors and adjust the resonance to match the International Telecommunication Unit grid with the channel spacing of 100 GHz.