We report the fabrication and accurate measurement of propagation and bending losses in single-mode silicon waveguides with submicron dimensions fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafers. Owing to the small sidewall surface roughness achieved by processing on a standard 200mm CMOS fabrication line, minimal propagation losses of 3.6+/-0.1dB/cm for the TE polarization were measured at the telecommunications wavelength of 1.5microm. Losses per 90 masculine bend are measured to be 0.086+/-0.005dB for a bending radius of 1microm and as low as 0.013+/-0.005dB for a bend radius of 2microm. These record low numbers can be used as a benchmark for further development of silicon microphotonic components and circuits.

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Losses in single-mode silicon-on-insulator strip waveguides and bends.

Wavelength multiplexers, demultiplexers and routers based on optical phased arrays play a key role in multiwavelength telecommunication links and networks. In this paper, a detailed description of phased-array operation and design is presented and an overview is given of the most important applications.

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PHASAR-based WDM-devices: Principles, design and applications

Silicon-based large-scale photonic integrated circuits are becoming important, due to the need for higher complexity and lower cost for optical transmitters, receivers and optical buffers. In this paper, passive technologies for large-scale photonic integrated circuits are described, including polarization handling, light non-reciprocity and loss reduction. The design rule for polarization beam splitters based on asymmetrical directional couplers is summarized and several novel designs for ultra-short polarization beam splitters are reviewed. A novel concept for realizing a polarization splitter–rotator is presented with a very simple fabrication process. Realization of silicon-based light non-reciprocity devices (e.g., optical isolator), which is very important for transmitters to avoid sensitivity to reflections, is also demonstrated with the help of magneto-optical material by the bonding technology. Low-loss waveguides are another important technology for large-scale photonic integrated circuits. Ultra-low loss optical waveguides are achieved by designing a Si3N4 core with a very high aspect ratio. The loss is reduced further to <0.1 dB m−1 with an improved fabrication process incorporating a high-quality thermal oxide upper cladding by means of wafer bonding. With the developed ultra-low loss Si3N4 optical waveguides, some devices are also demonstrated, including ultra-high-Q ring resonators, low-loss arrayed-waveguide grating (de)multiplexers, and high-extinction-ratio polarizers. Newly developed photonic components could allow large-scale photonic integrated circuits to be built on silicon substrates. Daoxin Dai from Zhejiang University, China, alongside co-workers from the University of California, USA, have proposed several new optical technologies for use in photonic integrated circuits, which substitute or work alongside electrical circuits in optical devices. The researchers have designed new ultrashort polarization-handling devices that split high-intensity beams of light, and a ring optical isolator that reduces reflections. The team have also created a new waveguide based on silicon nitride that can guide optical waves with a minimal loss of energy. These new technologies will allow scientists to construct higher performance, more compact optical devices.

/pdf/passive-technologies-for-future-large-scale-photonic-4doamz9zqi.pdf

Passive technologies for future large-scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon: polarization handling, light non-reciprocity and loss reduction

This paper presents the fundamental principles and recent advances in the field of photonic filtering of microwave signals using discrete-time incoherent processing. We also provide a comprehensive review of the fundamentals, applications, and current state of the art.

Discrete-time optical Processing of microwave signals

This article reviews recent work in the area of non-innocent behaviour in polynuclear metal complexes Non-innocence, which occurs when metal-based and ligand-based redox orbitals are similar in energy, has been known since the first dithiolene complexes of the Ni triad Our recent work in this field is with complexes of two distinct types: polynuclear complexes of Ru(II) with dioxolene-type bridging ligands; and dinuclear complexes based on tris(pyrazolyl)borato-Mo(V) or -Mo(I) units linked by bis-phenolate or bis-pyridyl bridging ligands Detailed redox and UV/Vis/NIR spectroelectrochemical studies on these complexes have been carried out An important point which emerges is that non-innocent behaviour in dinuclear complexes is an essential prerequisite for strong metal–metal electronic coupling across extended bridging ligands Many of the complexes studied show intense charge-transfer transitions in the near-IR region of the
spectrum, and the use of these in prototypical optical devices is briefly discussed

Non-innocent behaviour in mononuclear and polynuclear complexes: consequences for redox and electronic spectroscopic properties

An optical add/drop multiplexer that enables full access to 16 individual wavelength channels has been fabricated on the planar lightwave circuit (PLC). The device consists of four arrayed-waveguide gratings which are connected through 16 double-gate thermo-optic switches. The crosstalk characteristics of the optical switches have been improved by adopting a double-gate configuration. The on-off crosstalks from main input or add port to main output or drop port are less than -28.4 dB and the on-chip insertion losses are 7.8-10.3 dB, respectively.

16-channel optical add/drop multiplexer consisting of arrayed-waveguide gratings and double-gate switches

We describe a silica-based 16/spl times/16 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch with a low loss and a high extinction ratio. This matrix switch, which employs a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switching unit and a matrix arrangement to reduce the total waveguide length, is fabricated with 0.75% refractive index difference waveguides on a 6-in silicon wafer using silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. We obtained an average insertion loss of 6.6 dB and an average extinction ratio of 53 dB in the worst polarization case. The operating wavelength bandwidth completely covers the gain band of practical erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). The total power consumption needed for operation is reduced to 17 W by employing a phase-trimming technique which eliminates the phase-error in the interferometer switching unit.

Low loss and high extinction ratio strictly nonblocking 16/spl times/16 thermooptic matrix switch on 6-in wafer using silica-based planar lightwave circuit technology

A low-loss and high-extinction-ratio silica-based 16/spl times/16 thermooptic matrix switch is demonstrated. The switch, which employs a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching unit and a matrix arrangement which reduces the total waveguide length, is fabricated with 0.75% refractive index difference waveguides on a 6-in silicon wafer. The average insertion loss and the average extinction ratio are 6.6 and 55 dB, respectively. The total power consumption is 17 W.

Low-loss and high-extinction-ratio silica-based strictly nonblocking 16/spl times/16 thermooptic matrix switch

A novel polarization-beam splitter/switch with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration was fabricated using a silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) on a silicon substrate. The polarization-beam splitter/switch was realized by accurately controlling the waveguide birefringence and the phase state by laser trimming two kinds of stress-applying amorphous silicon film with widths of 50 /spl mu/m and 95 /spl mu/m. Fiber-waveguide-fiber insertion loss of 0.5 dB and crosstalk attenuations of over 25.6 dB were attained. >

Birefringence control of silica waveguides on Si and its application to a polarization-beam splitter/switch

This paper describes a silica-based 8/spl times/8 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch with a high-extinction ratio and low loss. We realized this matrix switch by using a configuration which combines a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switching unit and an N/spl times/N matrix arrangement thus reducing the total waveguide length. The 8/spl times/8 matrix switch was fabricated on a 4-in wafer using planar lightwave circuit technology. We obtained an average extinction ratio of 60.3 dB and an average insertion loss of 5.1 dB. The operating wavelength bandwidth completely covers the gain band of practical erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs).

Masayuki Okuno

Papers

16-channel optical add/drop multiplexer consisting of arrayed-waveguide gratings and double-gate switches

Low loss and high extinction ratio strictly nonblocking 16/spl times/16 thermooptic matrix switch on 6-in wafer using silica-based planar lightwave circuit technology

Low-loss and high-extinction-ratio silica-based strictly nonblocking 16/spl times/16 thermooptic matrix switch

Birefringence control of silica waveguides on Si and its application to a polarization-beam splitter/switch

High-extinction ratio and low-loss silica-based 8/spl times/8 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch