This paper describes the rationale for developing the online course, “Phot1x: Silicon Photonics Design, Fabrication and Data Analysis”, offered via edX UBCx, and shares some of our experiences in teaching this course. The course was developed in 2015, and has been offered several times annually to a global audience since then.
Silicon photoconductive heaters-detectors have been demonstrated to be useful for their ability to simultaneously act as thermo-optic phase shifters and in-waveguide photodetectors, as well for their ease of integration with silicon photonic fabrication processes. This functionality allows for the automated control of circuit elements through detect-and-tune control loops, which enable the efficient scaling of large integrated optoelectronic circuits. We have developed a compact model for the optoelectronic properties of silicon photoconductive devices in Lumerical INTERCONNECT based on measured results from fabricated devices, allowing designers to estimate the performance of such devices in circuits before fabrication. We demonstrate relative device performance compared to germanium detectors, and highlight target applications for such devices through simulation and fabricated devices, including a compact and widely reconfigurable notch filter.
In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a FSR-free, MRR-based, coupling modulator that integrates a bent, grating-based contra-directional-coupler (contra-DC) into a microring cavity to achieve an FSR-free response at its through port. Our modulator suppresses the amplitude response at all but one resonance, operating mode (hence, has an FSR-free response). In our modulator, coupling modulation is used and is achieved by modulating a relatively short, 210 μm long, p-n junction phase-shifter in a two-point coupler (which forms the drop-port coupler of the MRR). We demonstrate open eyes at 2.5 Gbps and discuss how the effects of DUV lithography on the contra-DC limited the electro-optic bandwidth of the fabricated modulator to 2.6 GHz. In these proceedings, we also cover details of the device design and the small and large signal characterization of the device, including an analysis of the effect of lithography on the “as-fabricated" device performance. We also discuss how to significantly improve the electro-optic bandwidth in future implementations by accounting for these lithographic effects in the device design flow and layout.
We present an algorithm for synthesizing generalized cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer (GCMZI) lattice filters. The algorithm is then used to design a tenth-order filter using a GCMZI filter with eight stages.
Microring resonators are important elements in a wide variety of optical systems, ranging from optical switches and tunable filterbanks to optical sensors. In these structures, the resonant frequencies are normally controlled by tuning the effective index of refraction. In optical switches and filters, this has traditionally been achieved through electro-optic or thermo-optic effects. In sensors, the effective refractive index is changed by the presence of the measurand. Adding a mechanical degree of freedom to these optical systems allows additional evanescent frequency tuning. In particular, the presence of a cantilever in the near-field of the optical mode can tune the effective refractive index. A specific cantilever displacement can therefore induce a desired resonant frequency shift. Alternatively, a measured shift in the resonant frequency can be associated with a cantilever displacement, and be used for pressure or acceleration sensing. In this paper, we explore a geometry that can be used for controlling the resonant frequency of a microring resonator through evanescent field perturbation, using a cantilever defined in the same silicon layer as the optical waveguides, in a silicon-on-insulator platform. The effects of the lateral gap size between the optical waveguide and the cantilever, and the cantilever vertical displacement, on both the resonant frequency and quality factor of the resonator, are evaluated through finite-difference timedomain computations for wavelengths centered at 1550 nm. The presence of the cantilever in the near-field of the optical mode changes the effective refractive index, resulting in frequency tuning, but also lowers the quality factor due to additional coupling into the membrane.
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