It is known that light can be slowed down in dispersive materials near resonances. Dramatic reduction of the light group velocity-and even bringing light pulses to a complete halt-has been demonstrated recently in various atomic and solid state systems, where the material absorption is cancelled via quantum optical coherent effects. Exploitation of slow light phenomena has potential for applications ranging from all-optical storage to all-optical switching. Existing schemes, however, are restricted to the narrow frequency range of the material resonance, which limits the operation frequency, maximum data rate and storage capacity. Moreover, the implementation of external lasers, low pressures and/or low temperatures prevents miniaturization and hinders practical applications. Here we experimentally demonstrate an over 300-fold reduction of the group velocity on a silicon chip via an ultra-compact photonic integrated circuit using low-loss silicon photonic crystal waveguides that can support an optical mode with a submicrometre cross-section. In addition, we show fast (approximately 100 ns) and efficient (2 mW electric power) active control of the group velocity by localized heating of the photonic crystal waveguide with an integrated micro-heater.

Active control of slow light on a chip with photonic crystal waveguides

The physical principles behind the phenomenon of slow light in photonic crystal waveguides, as well as their practical limitations, are discussed and put into context This includes the nature of slow light propagation, its bandwidth limitation, the scaling of linear and nonlinear interactions with the slowdown factor as well as issues such as losses, coupling into and the tuning of slow modes Applications in all-optical signal processing appear to be the most promising outcome of the phenomena discussed

/pdf/slow-light-in-photonic-crystal-waveguides-26yes3fz6i.pdf

Slow light in photonic crystal waveguides

This paper presents an analysis of optical buffers based on slow-light optical delay lines. The focus of this paper is on slow-light delay lines in which the group velocity is reduced using linear processes, including electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), population oscillations (POs), and microresonator-based photonic-crystal (PC) filters. We also consider slow-light delay lines in which the group velocity is reduced by an adiabatic process of bandwidth compression. A framework is developed for comparing these techniques and identifying fundamental physical limitations of linear slow-light technologies. It is shown that slow-light delay lines have limited capacity and delay-bandwidth product. In principle, the group velocity in slow-light delay lines can be made to approach zero. But very slow group velocity always comes at the cost of very low bandwidth or throughput. In many applications, miniaturization of the delay line is an important consideration. For all delay-line buffers, the minimum physical size of the buffer for a given number of buffered data bits is ultimately limited by the physical size of each stored bit. We show that in slow-light optical buffers, the minimum achievable size of 1 b is approximately equal to the wavelength of light in the buffer. We also compare the capabilities and limitations of a range of delay-line buffers, investigate the impact of waveguide losses on the buffer capacity, and look at the applicability of slow-light delay lines in a number of applications.

https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~peicheng/people/publications/2005%20-%20Slow-Light%20Optical%20Buffers-%20Capabilities%20and%20Fundamental%20Limitations.pdf

Slow-light optical buffers: capabilities and fundamental limitations

It is now possible to exercise a high degree of control over the velocity at which light pulses pass through material media. This velocity, known as the group velocity, can be made to be very different from the speed of light in a vacuum c. Specifically, the group velocity of light can be made much smaller than c, greater than c, or even negative. We present a survey of methods for establishing extreme values of the group velocity, concentrating especially on methods that work in room-temperature solids. We also describe some applications of slow light.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/326/5956/1074.full.pdf

Controlling the Velocity of Light Pulses

We propose and demonstrate the use of narrow band optical parametric amplification for tunable slow and fast light propagation in optical fibers. The parametric gain is coupled to the Raman process which changes the gain value moderately but modifies the gain spectral shape. Consequently, the delay is enhanced at short wavelengths while it is moderated at long wavelengths. The maximum delay and tuning range can be optimized with respect to each other considering saturation effects in long fibers. The proposed scheme offers tunable delay in the presence of gain and with a bandwidth which is sufficiently wide to process digital data streams at tens of Gbit/s rates as well as picoseconds pulses.

Tunable all optical delay via slow and fast light propagation in a Raman assisted fiber optical parametric amplifier: a route to all optical buffering.

We demonstrate slow light via population oscillation in semiconductor quantum-well structures for the first time. A group velocity as low as 9600 m/s is inferred from the experimentally measured dispersive characteristics. The transparency window exhibits a bandwidth as large as 2 GHz.

Slow-Light in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

Slow light in semiconductor quantum wells.

Slow-light in semiconductor quantum wells

We experimentally demonstrate slow-light via population pulsation in semiconductor quantum well structures. A group velocity as small as 9600 m/s is inferred from the measured dispersive characteristics. The transparency window exhibits a bandwidth of 2 GHz

/pdf/slow-light-in-semiconductor-quantum-wells-4aqi2yez7t.pdf

Forrest Sedgwick

Papers

Slow-Light in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

Slow light in semiconductor quantum wells.

Slow-light in semiconductor quantum wells

Slow-light in semiconductor quantum wells