Proceedings Article | 15 March 2016
KEYWORDS: Nonlinear response, Kerr effect, Waveguides, Nonlinear optics, Optical filters, Nonlinear filtering, Integrated optics, Silicon photonics, Signal attenuation, Electronic filtering, Absorption filters, Silicon, Resonators, Filtering (signal processing), Absorption
Here we show the results of an experimental analysis dedicated to investigate the impact of optical non linear effects, such as two-photon absorption (TPA), free-carrier absorption (FCA) and free-carrier dispersion (FCD), on the performance of integrated micro-resonator based filters for application in WDM telecommunication systems. The filters were fabricated using SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) technology by CEA-Leti, in the frame of the FP7 Fabulous Project, which aims to develop low-cost and high-performance integrated optical devices to be used in new generation passive optical- networks (NG-PON2). Different designs were tested, including both ring-based structures and racetrack-based structures, with single-, double- or triple- resonator configuration, and using different waveguide cross-sections (from 500 x 200 nm to 825 x 100 nm). Measurements were carried out using an external cavity tunable laser source operating in the extended telecom bandwidth, using both continuous wave signals and 10 Gbit/s modulated signals. Results show that the use 100-nm high waveguide allows reducing the impact of non-linear losses, with respect to the standard waveguides, thus increasing by more than 3 dB the maximum amount of optical power that can be injected into the devices before causing significant non-linear effects. Measurements with OOK-modulated signals at 10 Gbit/s showed that TPA and FCA don’t affect the back-to-back BER of the signal, even when long pseudo-random-bit-sequences (PRBS) are used, as the FCD-induced filter-detuning increases filter losses but “prevents” excessive signal degradation.
