Compact and broadband silicon polarization splitter-rotator using adiabaticity engineering.

We propose and demonstrate a short and broadband silicon mode-conversion polarization splitter-rotator (PSR) consisting of a mode-conversion taper and an adiabatic coupler-based mode sorter both optimized by adiabaticity engineering (AE). AE is used to optimize the distribution of adiabaticity parameter over the length of the PSR, providing shortcut to adiabaticity at a shorter device length. The total length of the PSR is 85 µm. The design is compatible with standard silicon photonics platforms and requires only one patterning step. Fabricated PSR has a polarization cross talk of less than -20 dB over the entire O-band for the TE polarization and a polarization cross talk of less than -15 dB from 1267 to 1348 nm for the TM polarization. Overall, the PSR shows low polarization cross talk (-15 dB) over a bandwidth of 81 nm in the O-band. Cross-wafer measurements show that the PSR has good fabrication tolerance.

Compact polarization-independent quasi-adiabatic 2×2 3 dB coupler on silicon.

We demonstrate a quasi-adiabatic polarization-independent 2×2 3 dB coupler based on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Using a quasi-adiabatic taper design for the mode evolution/coupling region, the TE mode evolution is accelerated, and the TM mode coupling is achieved at a short coupling length. The measured working bandwidth is 75 nm with a compact mode evolution/coupling region of 11.7 µm.

Near-infrared spectroscopy using period-chirped Si/SiO/SiO2-based guided mode resonance filter.

We demonstrate a Si/SiO/SiO2-based period-chirped guided mode resonance (GMR) filter to discriminate telecom o-band wavelengths by spatially resolved horizontal movement. Continuously period-chirped silicon gratings were fabricated by using a Lloyd's laser interferometer with a convex mirror. Due to the large waveguide effective index, the GMR filter can be realized with a short grating period, thus enabling a slow grating period transition along the sample position and high optical resolution in wavelength discrimination. Depositing a SiO/SiO2 stack on top of silicon gratings enables a narrowband GMR filter with a linewidth of 1-1.5 nm over a wavelength range of 1260-1360 nm. By using the chirped GMR filter as a dispersive device, the optical spectra of a near-infrared broadband light source are reconstructed. An optimized aspheric mirror is proposed to further improve the linearity of chirped gratings. Such a period-chirped GMR filter is promising for compact on-chip spectroscopy and sensing applications.

Higher order mode supercontinuum generation in tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) channel waveguide.

We fabricated tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) channel waveguides and used them to experimentally demonstrate higher-order mode supercontinuum (SC) generation. The Ta2O5 waveguide has a high nonlinear refractive index which was in an order magnitude of 10-14 cm2/W and was designed to be anomalously dispersive at the pumping wavelength. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a higher-order mode femtosecond pump based broadband SC has been measured from a nonlinear waveguide using the phase-matching method. This enabled us to demonstrate a SC spectrum spanning from 842 to 1462 nm (at - 30 dB), which corresponds to 0.83 octaves, when using the TM10 waveguide mode. When using the TE10 mode, the SC bandwidth is slightly reduced for the same excitation peak power. In addition, we theoretically estimated and discussed the possibility of using the broadband higher-order modes emitted from the Ta2O5 waveguide for trapping nanoparticles. Hence, we believe that demonstrated Ta2O5 waveguide are a promising broadband light source for optical applications such as frequency metrology, Raman spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography.

Polarization-controlled chirped guided-mode resonance filter incorporating a hybrid splay-twist liquid crystal.

This work develops a tunable chirped guided-mode resonant (GMR) filter that has a hybrid splay-twist (HST) liquid crystal as a cladding layer. The GMR filter is a color reflector that strongly reflects light at the resonance wavelength, and its chirped grating structure supports tuning of the resonance peak over a wavelength range of over 50 nm. The HST-LC configuration serves as an achromatic polarization rotator that can rotate the axis of polarization of linearly polarized light by providing effective twist angles in the LC layer under an applied voltage. The HST-LC is used to change the direction of the polarization axis of the light that is reflected by the GMR filter; continuous angles of rotation of ∼90∘ are achieved and the linear polarization is retained under applied voltages. The proposed filter enables an ultrabroadband polarization rotation and still maintains a high degree of linear polarization, which allows more degrees of freedom in spectral and polarization controls.

Low-loss polysilicon subwavelength grating waveguides and narrowband Bragg reflectors in bulk CMOS.

The performance of a photonic functional device in bulk CMOS has been limited by the high propagation loss in polysilicon strip waveguide. Based on the zero-process-change methodology, we successfully reduce the propagation loss of polysilicon waveguide from 112 dB/cm to only 38 dB/cm by solely engineering the waveguide geometry for the first time. Low propagation loss is attributed to a significantly reduced optical overlap factor of 0.09 to bulk polysilicon using subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide design. These findings prompt us to demonstrate a narrowband SWG-based cladding-modulated Bragg reflector in bulk CMOS, which provides a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.63 nm, an extinction ratio of 24.5 dB, and a reduced temperature sensitivity of 27.3 pm/°C. Further reducing the FWHM to 0.848 nm is also achieved by decreasing the grating coupling strength. We believe the achievements made in this work validate a promising design path towards practical photonic-electronic applications in bulk CMOS.

Robust silicon arbitrary ratio power splitters using shortcuts to adiabaticity.

We design and fabricate a series of broadband silicon arbitrary power splitters with various split ratios using shortcuts to adiabaticity. In this approach, the system evolution is designed using the decoupled system states, and the desired split ratios are guaranteed by the boundary conditions. Furthermore, the system evolutions are optimized to be as close to the adiabatic states as possible, thus enhancing the robustness to wavelength and fabrication variations. The devices are more compact then the conventional adiabatic designs. Fabricated devices show broadband response for a wide wavelength range from 1.47 to 1.62 µm and also have excellent robustness against fabrication errors across an 8-inch wafer.

Discontinuity-Enhanced Thin Film Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution.

Thin film electrocatalysts allow strong binding and intimate electrical contact with electrodes, rapid mass transfer during reaction, and are generally more durable than powder electrocatalysts, which is particularly beneficial for gas evolution reactions. In this work, using cobalt manganese oxyhydroxide, an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst that can be grown directly on various electrodes as a model system, it is demonstrated that breaking a continuous film into discontinuous patches can significantly enhance the overall OER performance without sacrificing long-term stability even under elevated electrocatalytic stress. Discontinuous films with higher edge-to-area ratios exhibits reduced overpotentials, increased turnover frequency, and more pronounced current increase after electrochemical conditioning. Operando Raman spectroscopy studies during electrocatalysis reveal that the film edges require lower potential barrier for activation. Introducing discontinuity into thin film electrocatalysis can thus lead to the realization of high performance yet highly robust systems for harsh gas evolution reactions.

Visible to near-infrared octave spanning supercontinuum generation in tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) air-cladding waveguide.

In this work, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, an anomalous dispersion CMOS-compatible Ta2O5 waveguide was realized, and broadband on-chip supercontinuum generation (SCG) was accordingly demonstrated. When pumped at a center wavelength of 1056 nm with pulses of 100 fs duration and peak power of 396 W, a supercontinuum ranging from 585 nm to 1697 nm was generated, comprising a bandwidth of more than 1.5 octaves and leading to an efficient SCG source. The excellent performance for Ta2O5 to generate SCG benefits mainly from its high nonlinear refractive index, which enhances the efficiency of the nonlinear conversion process.

Mode-evolution-based silicon-on-insulator 3 dB coupler using fast quasiadiabatic dynamics.

We report a 2×2 broadband and fabrication tolerant mode-evolution-based 3 dB coupler based on silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides. The operating principle of the coupler is based on the adiabatic evolution of local eigenmodes. The key element of the device is an adiabatically tapered mode evolution region, which converts two dissimilar waveguides into two identical waveguides. Contrary to conventional designs using a linear taper function where the device adiabaticity is uneven during evolution, we use the fast quasiadiabatic approach to homogenize the adiabaticity of the device, leading to a shortcut to adiabaticity. Devices with an optimized taper region of 26.3 µm are designed and fabricated in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible process with 193 nm deep ultraviolet lithography. The measured devices exhibit a broadband 3 dB±0.5 dB splitting within a bandwidth of 100 nm, uniformly across a 200-mm wafer, showing good tolerance against fabrication variations.

Optical spectrometer based on continuously-chirped guided mode resonance filter.

In this work we introduce a tunable GMR filter based on continuously period-chirped (ΔP = 130 nm) gratings using a Ta2O5 waveguide layer with graded thickness (ΔT = 36 nm). The structure of the gradient-period grating is defined using a modified Lloyd's mirror interferometer with a convex mirror, and Ta2O5 film used for the gradient is deposited using masked e-beam evaporation. The as-realized chirped GMR filter provides sharp transmission dips at resonant wavelengths with a filter bandwidth of approximately 4.2 nm and 0.78 nm when respectively applied to TE and TM polarized light under normal incidence. Gradually sweeping the chirped GMR filter makes it possible to monotonically sweep through resonant wavelengths from 500 to 700 nm, while maintaining stable filter bandwidth and transmission intensity. The optical spectrum of the incoming light can then be loyally reconstructed accordingly. We successfully demonstrate the spectrum reconstruction of a white light emitting diode and a dual-peak laser beam using the proposed chirped GMR filter as a dispersive device.

Narrowband silicon waveguide Bragg reflector achieved by highly ordered graphene oxide gratings.

Graphene oxide (GO) ultrathin film can be wafer-scale deposited by spin coating, can be patterned by laser interference lithography and oxygen plasma etching, can be thinned atomically (0.26 nm/min) and oxidized by ozone treatment, and is a relatively transparent and low-refractive-index material compared to pristine graphene. All those unique properties prompt us to realize a low-loss (∼5 dB/cm), high-extinction-ratio (19 dB), and narrowband (0.425 nm) GO/silicon hybrid waveguide Bragg reflector by transferring 7-nm-thick GO gratings (n=1.58) atop a silicon strip waveguide. Unlike a sidewall-corrugated strip waveguide Bragg reflector that generally exhibits distorted corrugation profiles and is sensitive to fabrication errors, the as-realized GO-grating-covered strip waveguide Bragg reflector exhibits a stable reflecting wavelength and controllable reflection bandwidth that can be well predicted by numerical simulations.

Full-color reflector using vertically stacked liquid crystal guided-mode resonators.

In this work, we proposed a full-color reflector using three stacked red (R), green (G), and blue (B) reflection gratings which are combined with the tunable 90° twisted nematic liquid crystals (TNLCs). The color reflector based on guided-mode resonance (GMR) gratings reflects strongly at the resonance wavelength. The optical reflectivity of GMR gratings can then be controlled by using 90° TNLCs to change the polarization of incident light. The optical characteristics and the chromaticity of the designed reflectors were evaluated by simulation. An individual RGB chip with/without LC was demonstrated experimentally. The fabricated GMR reflector for red exhibits a high TE/TM polarization ratio of >10:1 and 80% optical reflectivity at resonant wavelength, while the GMR reflector for blue only allows 60% optical reflectivity and a degraded polarization ratio of 3:1 mainly due to high optical absorption of silicon. Nevertheless, the silicon-based GMR reflector enables a wide reflection bandwidth, so a full-color reflector can be realized by vertically stacking RGB tunable reflectors. The proposed full-color reflector therefore exhibits a wide-gamut color space with low driving voltage of <3 V, showing its promise for use in energy-saving reflective information systems.

Effective Synthesis of Highly Oxidized Graphene Oxide That Enables Wafer-scale Nanopatterning: Preformed Acidic Oxidizing Medium Approach.

Demand for rapid and massive-scale exfoliation of bulky graphite remains high in graphene commercialization and property manipulation. We report a procedure utilizing "preformed acidic oxidizing medium (PAOM)" as a modified version of the Hummers' method for fast and reliable synthesis of graphene oxide. Pre-mixing of KMnO4 and concentrated H2SO4 prior to the addition of graphite flakes enables the formation of effectively and efficiently oxidized graphene oxide (EEGO) featured by its high yields and suspension homogeneity. PAOM expedites diffusion of the Mn-oxidants into the graphite galleries, resulting in the rapid graphite oxidation, capable of oxidizing bulky graphite flakes (~0.8 mm in diameter) that can not be realized by the Hummers' method. In the scale-up tests, ten-time amount of graphite can be completely exfoliated by PAOM without need of extended reaction time. The remarkable suspension homogeneity of EEGO can be exploited to deposit ultra-flat coating for wafer-scale nanopatterning. We successfully fabricated GO optical gratings with well-defined periodicity (300 nm) and uniform thickness (variation <7 nm). The combination of the facile and potent PAOM approach with the wafer-scale patterning technique may realize the goal for massive throughput graphene nanoelectronics.

Full-color reflectance-tunable filter based on liquid crystal cladded guided-mode resonant grating.

This work proposes a tunable reflective guided-mode resonant (GMR) filter that incorporates a 90° twisted nematic liquid crystal (TNLC). The GMR grating acts as an optical resonator that reflects strongly at the resonance wavelength and as an alignment layer for LC. The 90° TNLC functions as an achromic polarization rotator that alters the polarization of incident light. The resonance wavelength and reflectance of such a filter can be controlled by setting the angle of incidence and driving the 90° TNLC, respectively. The designed filter exhibits a very large spectral shift in resonance wavelength from 710 to 430 nm, which covers the entire visible spectrum. The transmittance can be tuned to within 10 V at various resonance wavelengths. The hybrid GMR - LC filter is compact, has a simple design, and is easy to fabricated. It can therefore be used in practical applications.

Self-phase modulation in highly confined submicron Ta2O5 channel waveguides.

Optical spectra broadening as a result self-phase modulation in a channel waveguide fabricated on a high quality tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) film by using RF sputtering is measured. The full-width at half maximum of the optical spectra for transverse electric (TE)/transverse magnetic (TM) polarizations of 42.5/31.7 nm is obtained using pulses of 10 nm at a wavelength of 800 nm with a peak-coupled power of 43.77 W. The nonlinear Kerr coefficients of 2.14 × 10-14 cm2/W and 1.92 × 10-14 cm2/W for TE and TM polarizations, respectively, are then extracted from the experiments using a theoretical model based on the method of moments. The obtained results on the nonlinearity further suggest that Ta2O5 is a promising material to develop nonlinear waveguide devices for integrated photonics.

Low-loss and high-Q Ta(2)O(5) based micro-ring resonator with inverse taper structure.

A low-loss and high-Q Ta(2)O(5) based micro-ring resonator is presented. The micro-ring resonator and channel waveguide with core area of the 700 by 400 nm(2) were fabricated on amorphous Ta(2)O(5) thin films prepared by reactive sputtering at 300°C and post annealing at 650°C for 3 hours. The Ta(2)O(5) micro-ring resonator with a diameter of 200 µm was coupled to the channel waveguide with a coupled Q up to 38,000 at a 0.9 µm coupling gap. By fitting the transmission spectrum of the resonator, the extracted loss coefficient inside the ring cavity and transmission coefficient of TE mode were 8.1dB/cm and 0.9923, leading to the estimated unloaded Q of higher than 44,000. In addition, based on the cut-back method, the propagation loss and the coupling loss of Ta(2)O(5) channel waveguide with an inverse taper were 1.5dB/cm and 3.2 dB, respectively. The proposed Ta(2)O(5) technology offers an unique alternative for fabricating high performance guided wave devices, and may well lead to novel applications in photonic integrated circuits.

Patterned growth of carbon nanotubes over vertically aligned silicon nanowire bundles for achieving uniform field emission.

A fabrication strategy is proposed to enable precise coverage of as-grown carbon nanotube (CNT) mats atop vertically aligned silicon nanowire (VA-SiNW) bundles in order to realize a uniform bundle array of CNT-SiNW heterojunctions over a large sample area. No obvious electrical degradation of as-fabricated SiNWs is observed according to the measured current-voltage characteristic of a two-terminal single-nanowire device. Bundle arrangement of CNT-SiNW heterojunctions is optimized to relax the electrostatic screening effect and to maximize the field enhancement factor. As a result, superior field emission performance and relatively stable emission current over 12 h is obtained. A bright and uniform fluorescent radiation is observed from CNT-SiNW-based field emitters regardless of its bundle periodicity, verifying the existence of high-density and efficient field emitters on the proposed CNT-SiNW bundle arrays.

Antireflective silicon surface with vertical-aligned silicon nanowires realized by simple wet chemical etching processes.

Silicon antireflection is realized with vertical-aligned SiNWs by using improved metal-induced etching technique. The spectral responses of the transmission, reflection, and absorption characteristics for the SiNWs of different lengths are investigated. In order to realize short SiNWs to provide sufficiently low reflection, a post chemical etching process is developed to make the nanowires have a larger length fluctuation and/or tapered structure. The use of short SiNWs can allow a faster process time and avoid the sub-bandgap absorption that frequently occurs in long nanowires. Short SiNWs can also provide more compatible material structure and fabrication procedures than long ones can for applying to make optoelectronic devices. Taking the applications to solar cells as examples, the SiNWs fabricated by the proposed technique can provide 92% of solar weighted absorption with about 720 nm long wires because of the resultant effective graded index and enhanced multiple optical scattering from the random SiNW lengths and tapered wires after KOH etching.

Deep and tapered silicon photonic crystals for achieving anti-reflection and enhanced absorption.

Tapered silicon photonic crystals (PhCs) with smooth sidewalls are realized using a novel single-step deep reactive ion etching. The PhCs can significantly reduce the surface reflection over the wavelength range between the ultra-violet and near-infrared regions. From the measurements using a spectrophotometer and an angle-variable spectroscopic ellipsometer, the sub-wavelength periodic structure can provide a broad and angular-independent antireflective window in the visible region for the TE-polarized light. The PhCs with tapered rods can further reduce the reflection due to a gradually changed effective index. On the other hand, strong optical resonances for TM-mode can be found in this structure, which is mainly due to the existence of full photonic bandgaps inside the material. Such resonance can enhance the optical absorption inside the silicon PhCs due to its increased optical paths. With the help of both antireflective and absorption-enhanced characteristics in this structure, the PhCs can be used for various applications.