Wide-band polarization controller for Si photonic integrated circuits.

A circuit for the management of any arbitrary polarization state of light is demonstrated on an integrated silicon (Si) photonics platform. This circuit allows us to adapt any polarization into the standard fundamental TE mode of a Si waveguide and, conversely, to control the polarization and set it to any arbitrary polarization state. In addition, the integrated thermal tuning allows kilohertz speed which can be used to perform a polarization scrambler. The circuit was used in a WDM link and successfully used to adapt four channels into a standard Si photonic integrated circuit.

Charge state switching of deep levels for low-power optical modulation in silicon waveguides.

We demonstrate a method for the efficient modulation of optical wavelengths around 1550 nm in silicon waveguides. The amplitude of a propagating signal is mediated via control of the charge state of indium centers, rather than using free-carriers alone as in the plasma-dispersion effect. A 1×1 switch formed of an integrated p-i-n junction in an indium-doped silicon on insulator (SOI) waveguide provides 'normally-off' silicon absorption of greater than 7 dB at zero bias. This loss is decreased to 2.8 dB with application of a 6 V applied reverse bias, with a power consumption of less than 1 µW.

Compact and efficient injection of light into band-edge slow-modes.

We design compact (a few wavelength long) and efficient (>99%) injectors for coupling light into slow Bloch modes of periodic thin film stacks and of periodic slab waveguides. The study includes the derivation of closed-form expressions for the injection efficiency as a function of the group-velocity of injected light, and the proof that 100% coupling efficiencies for arbitrary small group velocities is possible with an injector length scaling as log(c/vg). The trade-off between the injector bandwidth and the group velocity of the injected light is also considered.

Ultra-High Q/V Fabry-Perot microcavity on SOI substrate.

We experimentally demonstrate an ultra high Q/V nanocavity on SOI substrate. The design is based on modal adaptation within the cavity and allows to measure a quality factor of 58.000 for a modal volume of 0.6(lambda/n)(3) . This record Q/V value of 10(5) achieved for a structure standing on a physical substrate, rather than on membrane, is in very good agreement with theoretical predictions also shown. Based on these experimental results, we show that further refinements of the cavity design could lead to Q/V ratios close to 10(6).