Showing papers in "Journal of Lightwave Technology in 2005"

Nanophotonic waveguides in silicon-on-insulator fabricated with CMOS technology

Abstract: High-index-contrast, wavelength-scale structures are key to ultracompact integration of photonic integrated circuits. The fabrication of these nanophotonic structures in silicon-on-insulator using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor processing techniques, including deep ultraviolet lithography, was studied. It is concluded that this technology is capable of commercially manufacturing nanophotonic integrated circuits. The possibilities of photonic wires and photonic-crystal waveguides for photonic integration are compared. It is shown that, with similar fabrication techniques, photonic wires perform at least an order of magnitude better than photonic-crystal waveguides with respect to propagation losses. Measurements indicate propagation losses as low as 0.24 dB/mm for photonic wires but 7.5 dB/mm for photonic-crystal waveguides.

Guiding, modulating, and emitting light on Silicon-challenges and opportunities

Abstract: Silicon photonics could enable a chip-scale platform for monolithic integration of optics and microelectronics for applications of optical interconnects in which high data streams are required in a small footprint. This paper discusses mechanisms in silicon photonics for waveguiding, modulating, light amplification, and emission. These mechanisms, together with recent advances of fabrication techniques, have enabled the demonstration of ultracompact passive and active silicon photonic components with very low loss.

Slow-light optical buffers: capabilities and fundamental limitations

Abstract: 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.

Integrated optical components utilizing long-range surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract: New optical waveguide technology for integrated optics, based on propagation of long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LR-SPPs) along metal stripes embedded in dielectric, is presented. Guiding and routing of electromagnetic radiation along nanometer-thin and micrometer-wide gold stripes embedded in polymer via excitation of LR-SPPs is investigated in the wavelength range of 1250-1650 nm. LR-SPP guiding properties, such as the propagation loss and mode-field diameter, are investigated for different stripe widths and thicknesses. A propagation loss of /spl sim/6 dB/cm, a coupling loss of /spl sim/0.5 dB (per facet), and a bend loss of /spl sim/5 dB for a bend radius of 15 mm are evaluated for 15-nm-thick and 8-/spl mu/m-wide stripes at the wavelength of 1550 nm. LR-SPP-based 3-dB power Y-splitters, multimode interference waveguides, and directional couplers are demonstrated and investigated. At 1570 nm, coupling lengths of 1.9 and 0.8 mm are found for directional couplers with, respectively, 4- and 0-/spl mu/m-separated waveguides formed by 15-nm-thick and 8-/spl mu/m-wide gold stripes. LR-SPP-based waveguides and waveguide components are modeled using the effective-refractive-index method, and good agreement with experimental results is obtained.

Discrete-time optical Processing of microwave signals

Abstract: 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.

Security performance of optical CDMA Against eavesdropping

Abstract: Enhanced security has often been cited as an important benefit of optical CDMA (O-CDMA) signaling. However, the quality and degree of security enhancement has not been closely examined in the literature. This paper examines the degree and types of security that may be provided by O-CDMA encoding. A quantitative analysis of data confidentiality is presented for O-CDMA encoding techniques that use both time spreading and wavelength hopping. The probability of successful data interception is calculated as a function of several parameters, including signal-to-noise ratio and fraction of total available system capacity. For reasonable choices of system and encoding parameters, it is shown that increasing code complexity can increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required for an eavesdropper to "break" the encoding by only a few dB, while the processing of fewer than 100 bits by an eavesdropper can reduce the SNR required to break the encoding by up to 12 dB. The overall degree of confidentiality obtainable through O-CDMA encoding is also compared with that obtainable through standard cryptography. time-spreading/wavelength-hopping in particular, and O-CDMA in general, are found to provide considerably less data confidentiality than cryptography, and the confidentiality provided is found to be highly dependent on system design and implementation parameters.

Connection provisioning with transmission impairment consideration in optical WDM networks with high-speed channels

Abstract: We investigate new connection-provisioning algorithms to efficiently provide signal-quality-guaranteed connections in an optical wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) mesh network operating with high-speed wavelength channels. In an optical network, a connection is set up to carry a data signal via an all-optical channel (lightpath) from its source to destination node. The optical signal transmitted along the lightpath may need to travel through a number of crossconnect switches (OXCs), optical amplifiers, and fiber segments. While the signal propagates toward its destination, the optical components would continuously degrade the signal quality by inducing impairments. When the signal degradation is so severe that the received bit-error rate (BER) becomes unacceptably high, the lightpath would not be able to provide good service quality to a connection request. Such a lightpath, which has poor signal quality due to transmission impairments in the physical layer, should not be used for connection provisioning in the network layer. With increasing channel bit rate to 10 Gb/s or higher, fiber linear and nonlinear impairments become prominent factors, which affect the signal quality. Thus, new techniques in both physical layer and network layer are necessary for mitigating impairments to accommodate high-speed traffic. Therefore, to ensure service quality of high-speed connections, we develop intelligent impairment-aware routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) algorithms, which automatically consider the effects of high-speed transmission impairment when setting up a lightpath. The main contribution of our paper is that we investigate a novel hierarchical RWA model for high-speed connection provisioning where the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) effect are estimated in the physical layer, and regarded as metrics for lightpath computation in the network layer. The performance of the proposed connection-provisioning strategies is demonstrated to be promising through illustrative numerical examples.

Numerical modeling of photonic crystal fibers

Abstract: Recent progress on numerical modeling methods for photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) such as the effective index approach, basis-function expansion approach, and numerical approach is described. An index-guiding PCF with an array of air holes surrounding the silica core region has special characteristics compared with conventional single-mode fibers (SMFs). Using a full modal vector model, the fundamental characteristics of PCFs such as cutoff wavelength, confinement loss, modal birefringence, and chromatic dispersion are numerically investigated.

A monolithic PDMS waveguide system fabricated using soft-lithography techniques

Abstract: A monolithic waveguide system using poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) was designed, fabricated, and characterized. The waveguide demonstrated good confinement of light and relatively low attenuation at 0.40 dB/cm. The robustness and handling properties of the completed waveguides were excellent, and the process yield exceeded 96%. The waveguide did exhibit moderate temperature and humidity sensitivity but no temporal variation, and insertion loss remained stable over extended periods of time. Applications of this waveguide system in microscale sensing are immense, judging by the frequency of use of PDMS as the substrate for microfluidic and biomedical systems. The monolithic nature of the waveguides also reduces their cost and allows integration of optical pathways into existing PDMS-based microsystems.

Three-dimensional analysis of scattering losses due to sidewall roughness in microphotonic waveguides

Abstract: We present a three-dimensional (3-D) analysis of scattering losses due to sidewall roughness in rectangular dielectric waveguides valid for any refractive-index contrast and field polarization. The analysis is based on the volume current method and uses array factors to introduce significant mathematical simplifications to better understand the influence of individual waveguide parameters on scattering losses. We show that the typical two-dimensional (2-D) analyses can substantially overestimate scattering losses in small waveguides and that scattering losses exhibit considerable polarization dependence. We produce scattering-loss estimates for a wide variety of waveguides and provide guidelines for design of waveguide cross sections that are less sensitive to sidewall roughness.

IST-LASAGNE: towards all-optical label swapping employing optical logic gates and optical flip-flops

Abstract: The Information Society Technologies-all-optical LAbel SwApping employing optical logic Gates in NEtwork nodes (IST-LASAGNE) project aims at designing and implementing the first, modular, scalable, and truly all-optical photonic router capable of operating at 40 Gb/s. The results of the first project year are presented in this paper, with emphasis on the implementation of network node functionalities employing optical logic gates and optical flip-flops, as well as the definition of the network architecture and migration scenarios.

Dispersion-compensating fibers

Abstract: This paper reviews properties and use of conventional single-mode dispersion-compensating fibers (DCFs). The quality of the dispersion compensation expressed as residual dispersion after compensation is treated. Properties of actual DCFs for discrete compensation including loss and nonlinear effects are discussed. Fiber design with special emphasis on design tradeoffs is considered. The Raman properties of DCFs and their use as a discrete Raman amplifier are also discussed. Finally, DCF for use in dispersion-managed cables (DMCs) is addressed, including optimum fiber design and comparison of different configurations.

Wavelength-selective 1/spl times/K switches using free-space optics and MEMS micromirrors: theory, design, and implementation

Abstract: The design and performance of several generations of wavelength-selective 1/spl times/K switches are reviewed. These optical subsystems combine the functionality of a demultiplexer, per-wavelength switch, and multiplexer in a single, low-loss unit. Free-space optics is utilized for spatially separating the constituent wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) channels as well as for space-division switching from an input optical fiber to one of K output fibers (1/spl times/K functionality) on a channel-by-channel basis using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) micromirror array. The switches are designed to provide wide and flat passbands for minimal signal distortion. They can also provide spectral equalization and channel blocking functionality, making them well suited for use in transparent WDM optical mesh networks.

Optical generation and distribution of continuously tunable millimeter-wave signals using an optical phase modulator

Abstract: In this paper, we propose an approach to generate and distribute two wide bands of continuously tunable millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals using an optical phase modulator and a fixed optical notch filter. We demonstrate theoretically that the odd-order electrical harmonics are cancelled and even-order electrical harmonics are generated at the output of a photodetector when the optical carrier is filtered out from the phase-modulated optical spectrum. Analysis shows that dispersion compensation is required in order to maintain the suppression of the odd-order electrical harmonics, in order to eliminate signal fading of the generated electrical signal when the optical signal is distributed using conventional single-mode optical fiber. It is experimentally demonstrated that, when the electrical drive signal is tuned from 18.8-25 GHz, two bands of mm-wave signals from 37.6 to 50 GHz and from 75.2 to 100 GHz with high signal quality are generated locally and remotely. This approach does not suffer from the direct current (dc) bias-drifting problem observed when an optical intensity modulator is used.

Maximum-likelihood sequence estimation in dispersive optical channels

Abstract: This paper discusses the investigation of maximum-likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) receivers operating on intensity-modulated direct-detection optical channels. The study focuses on long-haul or metro links spanning several hundred kilometers of single-mode fiber with optical amplifiers. The structure of MLSE-based optical receivers operating in the presence of dispersion and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), as well as shot and thermal noise, are discussed, and a theory of the error rate of these receivers is developed. Computer simulations show a close agreement between the predictions of the theory and simulation results. Some important implementation issues are also addressed. Optical channels suffer from impairments that set them apart from other channels, and therefore they need a special investigation. Among these impairments are the facts that the optical channel is nonlinear, and noise is often non-Gaussian and signal dependent. For example, in optically amplified single-mode fiber links, the dominant source of noise is ASE noise, which after photodetection is distributed according to a noncentral chi-square probability density function. In addition, optical fibers suffer from chromatic and polarization-mode dispersion (PMD). Although the use of MLSE in optical channels has been discussed in previous literature, no detailed analysis of optical receivers using this technique has been reported so far. This motivates the study reported in this paper.

Nonsilica glasses for holey fibers

Abstract: The authors of this paper investigated the thermal properties and optical properties of typical nonsilica glasses, including viscosity, surface tension, thermal conductivity, transmission, linear and nonlinear refractive index, and fiber attenuation in order to judge the feasibility of using nonsilica glasses as the background material of holey fibers (HFs). Novel techniques were presented to fabricate the nonsilica glass microstructured fiber preforms. Examples of fabricated nonsilica glass HFs with various promising optical applications were finally exhibited.

Silicon waveguide sidewall smoothing by wet chemical oxidation

Abstract: This paper reports a new and more efficient Si waveguide sidewall smoothing process using wet chemical oxidation. Sidewall roughness is a major source of loss and an impediment to realizing high-transmission Si waveguides. The postetch multistepped approach allows for efficient smoothing (in terms of roughness amplitude reduction to material consumption) by continuous oxidation in the fast reaction-limited regime. This method reduces waveguide transmission loss without sacrificing dimensional integrity or thermal budget. In this proof-of-concept work, Si waveguide sidewall loss has been reduced from 9.2 to 1.9 dB/cm.

Phase noise-tolerant synchronous QPSK/BPSK baseband-type intradyne receiver concept with feedforward carrier recovery

Abstract: Quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) is attractive to increase transmission lengths and capacity, especially when it is combined with polarization division multiplex. Baseband processing at the symbol rate allows to keep the required electronic bandwidth low. So far, external cavity lasers seemed to be indispensable for such transmission systems due to linewidth requirements. We propose a feedforward carrier recovery scheme based on regenerative intradyne frequency dividers, i.e., the well-known regenerative frequency divider is extended to process baseband in-phase and quadrature (I and Q) signals. An IF linewidth tolerance of up to 0.001 times the QPSK symbol rate is predicted, 2 decades more than for an optical phase locked loop with a realistic loop delay. This means that commercially available DFB lasers shall suffice for synchronous optical QPSK/BPSK transmission.

Coherent optical MIMO (COMIMO)

Abstract: We present a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) optical link based on coherent optics and its ability to exploit the inherent information capacity of multimode fiber. A coherent implementation differs from previous work in optical MIMO by allowing the system to tolerate smaller modal delay spreads, because of a much larger carrier frequency, and yet maintain the necessary diversity needed for MIMO operation. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of MIMO adaptive equalization to mitigate intersymbol interference when exceeding the bandwidth-length product of the link. The impact of phase noise is studied with numerical simulation.

Germania-based core optical fibers

Abstract: Germania-glass-based core silica glass cladding single-mode fibers (/spl Delta/n up to 0.143) with a minimum loss of 20 dB/km at 1.9 /spl mu/m were fabricated by the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method. The fibers exhibit strong photorefractivity with the type-IIa-induced refractive-index modulation of 2/spl times/10/sup -3/. The Raman gain of 300 to 59 dB/(km/spl middot/W) was determined at 1.07 to 1.6 /spl mu/m, respectively, in a 75 mol.% GeO/sub 2/ core fiber. Only 3 m of such fibers are enough for the creation of a 10-W Raman laser at 1.12 /spl mu/m with a 13-W pump at 1.07 /spl mu/m. Raman generation in optical fiber at a wavelength of 2.2 /spl mu/m was obtained for the first time.

Confidentiality performance of spectral-phase-encoded optical CDMA

Abstract: Enhanced security has often been cited as an important benefit of optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA) signaling but has seldom been analyzed in detail. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the degree of confidentiality that can be provided by spectral-phase-encoded O-CDMA. Two eavesdropping detector structures are presented that can theoretically break the confidentiality of spectral-phase-encoded signals by detecting the code words in use by a specific user. One of them, an optical beat detector, is quantitatively analyzed to determine the probability of correctly detecting user code words. The confidentiality of user signals is shown to be vulnerable to such a detector if an eavesdropper can isolate a single user signal with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At lower SNRs, combining multiple bits is shown to dramatically increase the probability of an eavesdropper correctly detecting user code words; even for codes long enough to strain implementation capabilities (e.g., 2048 code elements), the probability of correct detection is shown to rise from negligibly low values to virtually 100% by the combining of less than 100 transmitted bits at the eavesdropper's receiver.

Optical nonlinearities in fibers: review, recent examples, and systems applications

Abstract: Optical nonlinearities give rise to many ubiquitous effects in optical fibers. These effects are interesting in themselves and can be detrimental in optical communications, but they also have many useful applications, especially for the implementation of all-optical functionalities in optical networks. In the present paper, we briefly review the different kinds of optical nonlinearities encountered in fibers, pointing out the essential material and fiber parameters that determine them. We describe the effects produced by each kind of nonlinearity, emphasizing their variations for different values of essential parameters. Throughout the paper, we refer to recent systems applications in which these effects have been dealt with or exploited.

Photonic generation of continuous THz wave using uni-traveling-carrier photodiode

Abstract: A uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) is monolithically integrated with a wideband log-periodic toothed antenna for generating millimeter and submillimeter waves at frequencies of up to terahertz range. A module with a quasi-optical output port fabricated for practical use operates up to 1.5 THz and generates an output power of 2.3 /spl mu/W at 1.04 THz with good linearity. The output power level and the operation frequency are records for wideband PD modules operating at 1.55 /spl mu/m. An investigation of the operational characteristics of the UTC-PD reveals that the effective use of the electron-velocity overshoot in the junction depletion layer is important for maximizing the output power in the terahertz range.

Failure-independent path-protecting p-cycles: efficient and simple fully preconnected optical-path protection

Abstract: We propose a new technique for optical-network protection called failure-independent path-protecting (FIPP) p-cycles. The method is based on an extension of p-cycle concepts to retain the property of full preconnection of protection paths, while adding the property of end-to-end failure-independent path-protection switching against either span or node failures. An issue with applying the popular method of shared-backup path protection (SBPP) to an optical network is that spare channels for the backup path must be cross connected on the fly upon failure. It takes time and signaling to make the required cross connections, but more importantly, until all connections are made, it is not actually known if the backup optical path will have adequate transmission integrity. Thus, speed and optical-path integrity are important reasons to try to have backup paths fully preconnected before failure. With fully preconnected protection, not only can very fast restoration be attained, but the optical-path engineering can also be assured prior to failure. Regular p-cycles are fully preconnected, but are not end-to-end path-protecting structures. SBPP is capacity efficient and failure independent-failures only need to be detected at the end nodes and the end nodes activate and switch over to one predefined backup route for each working path-but the backup paths are not preconnected. FIPP p-cycles support the same failure-independent end-node-activated switching of SBPP, but with the fully preconnected protection-path property of p-cycles. As a fully preconnected and path-oriented scheme, FIPP p-cycles are, therefore, potentially more attractive for optical networks than SBPP. Results confirm that FIPP p-cycle network designs will exhibit capacity efficiency that is characteristic of path-oriented schemes and may be as capacity efficient as SBPP, but more conclusive comparisons on larger scale networks await further study.

Dispersion-tailored few-mode fibers: a versatile platform for in-fiber photonic devices

Abstract: In-fiber devices enable a vast array of critical photonic functions ranging from signal conditioning (amplification, dispersion control) to network management (add/drop multiplexers, optical monitoring). These devices have become mainstays of fiber-optic communication systems because they provide the advantages of low loss, polarization insensitivity, high reliability, and compatibility with the transmission line. The majority of fiber devices reported to date are obtained by doping, designing, or writing gratings in the core of a single-mode fiber (SMF). Thus, these devices use the fiber only as a platform for propagating light-the device effect itself is due to some extraneously introduced material or structure (dopants for amplification, gratings for phase matching, etc.) There exists another, relatively less explored degree of freedom afforded by fibers-the ability to copropagate more than one mode. Each mode may have a uniquely defined modal dispersion and propagation characteristic. In this paper, we will describe the variety of fiber devices enabled by few-mode fibers-fibers that typically support two to four modes with suitably tailored dispersive properties. We will show that the unique dispersive properties of various modes, in conjunction with the ability to couple between them with gratings, leads to devices that offer novel solutions for dispersion compensation, spectral shaping, and polarization control, to name a few.

Dispersion-flattened photonic crystal fiber with large effective area and low confinement loss

Abstract: A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) can realize a flat dispersion over a wide wavelength range that cannot be realized with a conventional single-mode fiber. However, the confinement loss tends to increase in a conventional dispersion-flattened PCF (DF-PCF) that has uniform air holes. In this paper, a novel PCF that has two cladding layers with different effective indices is proposed. The authors numerically show that the proposed PCF can achieve an ultralow dispersion variation of less than 0.8 ps/nm/spl middot/km in all telecommunication bands, with both a large effective area greater than 100 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and a low confinement loss less than 0.01 dB/km.

A fully implemented 12 /spl times/ 12 data vortex optical packet switching interconnection network

Abstract: A fully functional optical packet switching (OPS) interconnection network based on the data vortex architecture is presented. The photonic switching fabric uniquely capitalizes on the enormous bandwidth advantage of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) wavelength parallelism while delivering minimal packet transit latency. Utilizing semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based switching nodes and conventional fiber-optic technology, the 12-port system exhibits a capacity of nearly 1 Tb/s. Optical packets containing an eight-wavelength WDM payload with 10 Gb/s per wavelength are routed successfully to all 12 ports while maintaining a bit error rate (BER) of 10/sup -12/ or better. Median port-to-port latencies of 110 ns are achieved with a distributed deflection routing network that resolves packet contention on-the-fly without the use of optical buffers and maintains the entire payload path in the optical domain.

Hybrid WDM/TDM PON using the AWG FSR and featuring centralized light generation and dynamic bandwidth allocation

Abstract: A novel time/space/wavelength division multiplexing (TDM/WDM) architecture using the free spectral range (FSR) periodicity of the arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is presented. A shared tunable laser and a photoreceiver stack featuring dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) and remote modulation are used for transmission and reception. Transmission tests show correct operation at 2.5 Gb/s to a 30-km reach, and network performance calculations using queue modeling demonstrate that a high-bandwidth-demanding application could be deployed on this network.

Novel hollow optical fibers and their applications in photonic devices for optical communications

Abstract: Novel photonic devices based on a new type of waveguide, hollow optical fibers (HOF), are described. Utilizing unique three layered structure of HOF, the central air hole, germanosilicate ring core, and silica cladding along with its adiabatic mode transformation capability we demonstrated versatile applications in short-haul, long-haul optical communications, and tunable wavelength selective devices. Detailed design parameters, fabrication arts of the fibers, and operation principles of the devices are discussed.

Chirp characteristics of 40-gb/s directly Modulated distributed-feedback laser diodes

Abstract: For short-reach applications, 40-Gb/s directly modulated semiconductor lasers enable high-capacity transmission with a simple and low-cost configuration. We investigated the chirp characteristics of 40-Gb/s directly modulated 1.55-/spl mu/m distributed-feedback laser diodes (DFB-LDs) and measured the linewidth enhancement factor and dynamic chirp. We then evaluated the fiber-dispersion dependence of the bit error rates (BERs) and dispersion tolerance for 40-Gb/s transmissions.