Silicon photonic wire waveguides, featuring very strong optical confinement and compatibility with silicon electronics,
provide a compact photonic platform on which passive, dynamic, and active photonic devices can be integrated. We have
already developed a low-loss waveguide platform and integrated various photonic devices. For passive devices, we have
developed polarization-independent wavelength filters using a monolithically integrated polarization diversity circuit, in
which waveguide-based polarization manipulation devices are implemented. The polarization-dependent loss of a ring
resonator wavelength filter with polarization diversity is less than 1 dB. For dynamic devices, we have developed
compact carrier-injection-type variable optical attenuators (VOAs). The length of the device is less than one millimeter,
and the response time is nanosecond order. The device has already been made polarization independent. We have
recently monolithically integrated these fast VOAs with low-dark-current germanium photodiodes and achieved
synchronized operation of these devices. For nonlinear devices, a free-carrier extraction structure using a PIN junction
implemented in the waveguide can increase the efficiency of nonlinear functions. For example, in a wavelength
conversion based on the Four-wave-mixing effect, the conversion efficiency can be increased by 6 dB.
We devised a silicon photonic circuit with polarization diversity. The circuit consists of polarization splitters and
rotators. The splitter is based on simple 10-micrometer-long directional couplers. The polarization extinction ratio is 23
dB and excess loss is less than 0.5 dB. The rotator consists of a silicon waveguide embedded in an off-axis siliconoxynitride
waveguide. A 35-micrometer-long rotator gives a rotation angle of more than 72 degrees and excess loss of
about 1 dB. Both devices can be made by using planar fabrication technology and do not require a complex structure
such as three-dimensional forming. Using these devices, we developed a polarization diversity circuit for a ringresonator
wavelength filter. The polarization dependent loss of the filter with polarization diversity is about 1 dB. A 10-
Gbps data transmission with scrambled polarization is demonstrated.
We demonstrate efficient nonlinear functions using silicon nanophotonic structures. In the ultrasmall core of the
waveguides and cavities, nonlinear phenomena are significantly enhanced. Applying the two-photon absorption effect,
we have confirmed all optical modulation, in which the modulation speed is improved to around 50 ps by eliminating
free carriers. Applying the four-wave-mixing effect, we have achieved high-efficiency wavelength conversion. The
conversion efficiency is -11 dB, and the efficiency will be further improved by eliminating free carriers. Using the four-wave-
mixing effect, we have also realized a low-noise entangled photon pair source. The source does not need a
refrigeration system for noise reduction, which is a great advantage for practical application.
This paper presents our recent progress in the development of a Si wire waveguiding system for microphotonics devices. We have developed function devices that integrate several fundamental components and confirmed that they exhibited excellent characteristics due to the accuracy of the Si microfabrication. The propagation loss of the waveguide is less than 1.2dB/cm, and branching devices and basic filters show good characteristics. Using the fundamental microfabrication technique, we have developed other passive and dynamic functional devices. As an example of our recent advances using passive devices, we present a polarization diversity system consisting of a separator and a rotator. As a component of a dynamic functional device, we show a low-loss rib-type silicon wire waveguide with low-impedance p-i-n structure and its optical attenuation characteristics.
We investigate waveguide resonators, and a coupled system based on two-dimensional silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal (PhC) slabs. First, we show a way of designing PhC waveguides and PhC resonators to overcome the radiation loss that occurs in the thickness direction in a two-dimensional system and how to couple a PhC waveguide to an optical fiber. Next, we effectively couple PhC waveguides to PhC resonators, devise a three-port-resonant-tunneling filter, and develop an ultrasmall multi-port channel-drop filter. Finally, we describe a two-beam optical switch operating with very low power that employs a PhC coupled resonator-waveguide system.
We study various types of two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides (WG) on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates for future photonic integrated circuit (PIC) applications. One of our goals is to realize a low-loss single-mode PhC WG. Off-plane diffractive leakage above the cladding layer light line is a serious problem in SOI-based PhC-WGs. We overcame this problem in width-varied line defect waveguides whose core-widths are changed by sliding PhC domains or deforming holes beside the waveguides. Narrow-core WGs have a wide transmission band below the cladding layer light line, and wide-core WGs can greatly suppress the diffractive leakage even above the cladding layer light line, and both types have a very low propagation loss. Another goal is to achieve a highly efficient coupling between SOI-based PhC WGs and single-mode fibers (SMFs). Normally, the loss of such a coupling system is very large, i.e. over 20 dB, because of the quite different mode profiles of the WGs and SMFs, and this loss is an obstacle to the development of PhC-based devices. Our system achieves a very small mode-profile-conversion loss of about 3-4 dB/connection from 1500 to 1600 nm wavelength.
We have experimentally demonstrated single-mode light-wave transmission and tunable waveguiding characteristics in photonic crystal (PC) waveguides constructed on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate as is most likely to be used for the a large scale integration of photonic circuits. Although off-plane diffractive leakage has been a serious problem in SOI-PC waveguides, we have overcome this problem in our narrow line-defect and phase-shifted-hole line-defect waveguide structures. These devices were developed through intensive theoretical studies on PC line-defect waveguieds. We have also demonstrated low-loss mode profile converter that will enable efficient connection between conventional silica-based waveguides and PC line-defect waveguides. The converter features an inversely-tapered silicon wire waveguide with an ultra-thin tip constructed on an SOI substrate. In our experiments, this converter proved capable of coupling loss as low as 0.5dB per conversion. These SOI-based devices represent an important step towards practical large-scale integrated photonic crystal circuits.
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