Cost-effective silicon-photonic biosensors using doped silicon detectors and a broadband source.

We propose and demonstrate a cost-effective, microring-based, silicon photonic sensor that uses doped silicon detectors and a broadband source. Shifts in the sensing microring resonances are electrically tracked by a doped second microring, which acts as both a tracking element and a photodetector. By tracking the power supplied to this second ring, as the sensing ring's resonance shifts, the effective refractive index change caused by the analyte is determined. This design reduces the cost of the system by eliminating high-cost, high-resolution tunable lasers, and is fully compatible with high-temperature fabrication processes. We report a bulk sensitivity of 61.8 nm/RIU and a system limit of detection of 9.8x10-4 RIU.

Measuring on-chip waveguide losses using a single, two-point coupled microring resonator.

We demonstrate a method for measuring on-chip waveguide losses using a single microring resonator with a tunable coupler. By tuning the power coupling to the microring and measuring the microring's through-port transmission at each power coupling, one can separate the waveguide propagation loss and the effects of the coupling to the microring. This method is tolerant of fiber-chip coupling/alignment errors and does not require the use of expensive instruments for phase response measurements. In addition, this method offers a compact solution for measuring waveguide propagation losses, only using a single microring (230 µm×190 µm, including the metal pads). We demonstrate this method by measuring the propagation losses of silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides, yielding propagation losses of 3.1-1.3 dB/cm for core widths varying from 400-600 nm.

Compact wavelength- and bandwidth-tunable microring modulator.

Fabrication errors currently hold back the large-scale adoption of silicon micro-ring modulators (MRMs). The ability to correct their spectral features post-fabrication is required to enable their commercialization. Here, we report and demonstrate an MRM that uses a tunable two-point coupling scheme, which maintains the MRM's compact footprint (60 µm×45 µm) and allows one to tune the MRM's operating wavelength and adjust the optical bandwidth (and/or extinction ratio). This means that one can compensate for fabrication errors and thereby improve the yields. We confirm the modulator's operation by showing NRZ and PAM-4 modulation, up to 28 Gb/s and 19.9 Gb/s, respectively. Also, the proposed tunable MRM maintains the microring's free-spectral range (FSR), which proves its compatibility for configurable and high-bandwidth DWDM applications.

Feedback control for microring weight banks.

Microring weight banks present novel opportunities for reconfigurable, high-performance analog signal processing in photonics. Controlling microring filter response is a challenge due to fabrication variations and thermal sensitivity. Prior work showed continuous weight control of multiple wavelength-division multiplexed signals in a bank of microrings based on calibration and feedforward control. Other prior work has shown resonance locking based on feedback control by monitoring photoabsorption-induced changes in resistance across in-ring photoconductive heaters. In this work, we demonstrate continuous, multi-channel control of a microring weight bank with an effective 5.1 bits of accuracy on 2Gbps signals. Unlike resonance locking, the approach relies on an estimate of filter transmission versus photo-induced resistance changes. We introduce an estimate still capable of providing 4.2 bits of accuracy without any direct transmission measurements. Furthermore, we present a detailed characterization of this response for different values of carrier wavelength offset and power. Feedback weight control renders tractable the weight control problem in reconfigurable analog photonic networks.

FSR-free silicon-on-insulator microring resonator based filter with bent contra-directional couplers.

High-speed optical interconnects drive the need for compact microring resonators (MRRs) with wide free spectral ranges (FSRs). A silicon-on-insulator MRR based filter with bent contra-directional couplers that exhibits an FSR-free response, at both the drop and through ports, while achieving a compact footprint is both theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. Also, using bent contra-directional couplers in the couping regions of MRRs allowed us to achieve larger side-mode suppressions than MRRs with straight CDCs. The fabricated filter has a minimum suppression ratio of more than 15 dB, a 3dB-bandwidth of ~23 GHz, an extinction ratio of ~18 dB, and a drop-port insertion loss of ~1 dB. High-speed data transmission through our filter is also demonstrated at data rates of 12.5 Gbps, 20 Gbps, and 28 Gbps.

Dense dissimilar waveguide routing for highly efficient thermo-optic switches on silicon.

We analyze and demonstrate a method for increasing the efficiency of thermo-optic phase shifters on a silicon-on-insulator platform. The lack of cross-coupling between dissimilar waveguides allows highly dense waveguide routing under heating elements and a corresponding increase in efficiency. We demonstrate a device with highly dense routing of 9 waveguides under a 10 µm wide heater and achieve a low switching power of 95 µW, extinction ratio greater than 20 dB, and less than 0.1 dB ripple in the through spectrum with a footprint of less than 800 µm × 180 µm. The increase in waveguide density is found not to negatively impact the switch response time.

Tunable single-mode coupled-cavity laser in a standard InP photonics platform.

We present a wavelength tunable, coupled-cavity laser in a standard indium phosphide multiproject wafer shuttle which did not support distributed feedback gratings. The single-mode operation was enabled by reflections from slots in the laser cavity. The wavelength of the laser emission was tunable over 20 nm near a wavelength of 1560 nm via the currents applied to each section of the laser. A maximum side-mode suppression ratio of 46 dB was observed. The delayed self-heterodyne spectrum of the laser showed a Voigt line shape, corresponding to optical linewidths of 3.7 MHz for the Lorentzian and 88 MHz for the Gaussian contributions.

Wavelength tuning and stabilization of microring-based filters using silicon in-resonator photoconductive heaters.

We demonstrate that n-doped resistive heaters in silicon waveguides show photoconductive effects with high responsivities. These photoconductive heaters, integrated into microring resonator (MRR)-based filters, were used to automatically tune and stabilize the filter's resonance wavelength to the input laser's wavelength. This is achieved without requiring dedicated defect implantations, additional material depositions, dedicated photodetectors, or optical power tap-outs. Automatic wavelength stabilization of first-order MRR and second-order series-coupled MRR filters is experimentally demonstrated. Open eye diagrams were obtained for data transmission at 12.5 Gb/s while the temperature was varied by 5 °C at a rate of 0.28 °C/s. We theoretically show that series-coupled MRR-based filters of any order can be automatically tuned by using photoconductive heaters to monitor the light intensity in each MRR, and sequentially aligning the resonance of each MRR to the laser's wavelength.

Wide bandwidth and high coupling efficiency Si3N4-on-SOI dual-level grating coupler.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate fiber-to-chip grating couplers with aligned silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) and silicon (Si) grating teeth for wide bandwidths and high coupling efficiencies without the use of bottom reflectors. The measured 1-dB bandwidth is a record 80 nm, and the measured peak coupling efficiency is -1.3 dB, which is competitive with the best Si-only grating couplers. The grating couplers are integrated in a Si(3)N(4) on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) integrated optics platform with aligned waveguides in both the Si(3)N(4) and Si, and we demonstrate a 1 × 4 tunable multiplexer/demultiplexer using the Si(3)N(4)-on-SOI dual-level grating couplers and thermally-tuned Si microring resonators.

Electrically pumped silicon waveguide light sources.

We report simulations of electrically pumped waveguide emitters in which the emissive layer contains silicon nanoclusters and erbium ions. Plasmonic coupling to metallic or semi-metallic overlayers provides enhancement of the radiative rate of erbium ions, enabling high quantum efficiency emission. Using 2D and 3D finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations we show that up to 75% of the light emitted from the active layer can be coupled into a nanowire silicon rib waveguide. Our results suggest that such devices, which can readily be fabricated using CMOS processing techniques, pave the way for viable waveguide optical sources to be realized in silicon photonics.