Reducing power dissipation in electro-optic modulators is a key step for widespread application of silicon photonics to optical communication.In this work,we design Mach–Zehnder modulators in the silicon-on-insulator...Reducing power dissipation in electro-optic modulators is a key step for widespread application of silicon photonics to optical communication.In this work,we design Mach–Zehnder modulators in the silicon-on-insulator platform,which make use of slow light in a waveguide grating and of a reverse-biased p-n junction with interleaved contacts along the waveguide axis.After optimizing the junction parameters,we discuss the full simulation of the modulator in order to find a proper trade-off among various figures of merit,such as modulation efficiency,insertion loss,cutoff frequency,optical modulation amplitude,and dissipated energy per bit.Comparison with conventional structures(with lateral p-n junction and/or in rib waveguides without slow light)highlights the importance of combining slow light with the interleaved p-n junction,thanks to the increased overlap between the travelling optical wave and the depletion regions.As a surprising result,the modulator performance is improved over an optical bandwidth that is much wider than the slow-light bandwidth.展开更多
Controlling the optical response of a medium through suitably tuned coherent electromagnetic fields is highly relevant in a number of potential applications,from all-optical modulators to optical storage devices.In pa...Controlling the optical response of a medium through suitably tuned coherent electromagnetic fields is highly relevant in a number of potential applications,from all-optical modulators to optical storage devices.In particular,electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)is an established phenomenon in which destructive quantum interference creates a transparency window over a narrow spectral range around an absorption line,which,in turn,allows to slow and ultimately stop light due to the anomalous refractive index dispersion.Here we report on the observation of a new form of both induced transparency and amplification of a weak probe beam in a strongly driven silicon photonic crystal resonator at room temperature.The effect is based on the oscillating temperature field induced in a nonlinear optical cavity,and it reproduces many of the key features of EIT while being independent of either atomic or mechanical resonances.Such thermo-optically induced transparency will allow a versatile implementation of EIT-analogs in an integrated photonic platform,at almost arbitrary wavelength of interest,room temperature and in a practical,low cost,and scalable system.展开更多
基金European Commission(H2020 Quant ERA ERA-NET Cofund QT project CUSPIDOR,H2020-ICT27-2015 project 688516 COSMICC)Ministero dell’Istruzione,dell’Universitàe della Ricerca+1 种基金Science Foundation Ireland(17/QERA/3472,12/RC/2276_P2)CINECA-ISCRA(Project Slow Mod-HP10C0BQ66)。
文摘Reducing power dissipation in electro-optic modulators is a key step for widespread application of silicon photonics to optical communication.In this work,we design Mach–Zehnder modulators in the silicon-on-insulator platform,which make use of slow light in a waveguide grating and of a reverse-biased p-n junction with interleaved contacts along the waveguide axis.After optimizing the junction parameters,we discuss the full simulation of the modulator in order to find a proper trade-off among various figures of merit,such as modulation efficiency,insertion loss,cutoff frequency,optical modulation amplitude,and dissipated energy per bit.Comparison with conventional structures(with lateral p-n junction and/or in rib waveguides without slow light)highlights the importance of combining slow light with the interleaved p-n junction,thanks to the increased overlap between the travelling optical wave and the depletion regions.As a surprising result,the modulator performance is improved over an optical bandwidth that is much wider than the slow-light bandwidth.
基金The authors would like to thank D.Bajoni,M.Gurioli,M.Liscidini for fruitful discussions.M.C.,G.U.,D.G.,and M.G.acknowledge the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme(H2020)through the QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies,project CUSPIDOR,cofunded by Ministero dell’Istruzione,dell’Universitàe della Ricerca(MIUR),and MIUR through the“Dipartimenti di Eccellenza Program(2018–2022)”Dipartimento di Fisica,Universitàdi Pavia.S.I.and L.O.F.acknowledge funding from the Science Foundation Ireland(17/QERA/3472,12/RC/2276 P2)in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Programme under European Research Council Starting Grant 337508(DANCER)and under Grant 780240(REDFINCH).
文摘Controlling the optical response of a medium through suitably tuned coherent electromagnetic fields is highly relevant in a number of potential applications,from all-optical modulators to optical storage devices.In particular,electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)is an established phenomenon in which destructive quantum interference creates a transparency window over a narrow spectral range around an absorption line,which,in turn,allows to slow and ultimately stop light due to the anomalous refractive index dispersion.Here we report on the observation of a new form of both induced transparency and amplification of a weak probe beam in a strongly driven silicon photonic crystal resonator at room temperature.The effect is based on the oscillating temperature field induced in a nonlinear optical cavity,and it reproduces many of the key features of EIT while being independent of either atomic or mechanical resonances.Such thermo-optically induced transparency will allow a versatile implementation of EIT-analogs in an integrated photonic platform,at almost arbitrary wavelength of interest,room temperature and in a practical,low cost,and scalable system.
