Room Temperature InP DFB Laser Array Directly Grown on (001) Silicon

Fully exploiting the silicon photonics platform requires a fundamentally new approach to realize high-performance laser sources that can be integrated directly using wafer-scale fabrication methods. Direct band gap III-V semiconductors allow efficient light generation but the large mismatch in lattice constant, thermal expansion and crystal polarity makes their epitaxial growth directly on silicon extremely complex. Here, using a selective area growth technique in confined regions, we surpass this fundamental limit and demonstrate an optically pumped InP-based distributed feedback (DFB) laser array grown on (001)-Silicon operating at room temperature and suitable for wavelength-division-multiplexing applications. The novel epitaxial technology suppresses threading dislocations and anti-phase boundaries to a less than 20nm thick layer not affecting the device performance. Using an in-plane laser cavity defined by standard top-down lithographic patterning together with a high yield and high uniformity provides scalability and a straightforward path towards cost-effective co-integration with photonic circuits and III-V FINFET logic

HIGH EFFICIENCY EDGE COUPLER, NOVEL NONLINEAR OPTICAL POLYMERS WITH LARGE KERR-COEFFICIENT AND AUTOMATIC LAYOUT GENERATION IN SILICON PHOTONICS

The potential of on-chip photonics is limited by the difficulty in coupling light from optical fibers to on-chip waveguides. Specifically, 3rd-order nonlinear on-chip photonics usually requires high optical power. Hence the first major focus of this research is to design high-efficiency edge couplers. To achieve this goal, loss mechanisms of basic inverse taper couplers are analyzed and experimentally verified. Then a cantilever-encapsulated inverse taper is demonstrated to further lower coupling loss compared to basic inverse tapers. Nonetheless, both couplers are designed to couple with lensed fibers. Hence for flat fibers with larger mode-field-diameter (MFD), a novel sub-wavelength grating based edge coupler is proposed and experimentally demonstrated to have 1.9dB/facet loss. Eventually a silicon multi-section taper with intermediate SU-8 waveguide cladding is proposed for flat fibers with even larger MFD and experimentally verified. Based on the result several suggestions are proposed for further improvement

Wavelength Conversion Using Reconfigurable Photonic Crystal MEMS/NEMS Structures

Globally increasing levels of bandwidth and capacity requirements force the optical communications industry to produce new products that are faster, more powerful, and more efficient. In particular, optical-electronic-optical (O-E-O) conversions in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) mechanisms prevent higher data transfer speeds and create a serious bottleneck for optical communications. These O-E-O transitions are mostly encountered in the Wavelength converters of WDMs, and as a result, all-optical wavelength conversion methods have become extremely important. The main discussion in this thesis will concentrate on a specific all-optical wavelength conversion mechanism. In this mechanism, photonic crystal structures are integrated with moving MEMS/NEMS structures to create a state-of-the-art all-optical wavelength converter prototype. A wavelength conversion of 20% is achieved using this structure. Since the interaction of light with moving MEMS/NEMS structures plays an important role in the proposed wavelength conversion mechanism, modeling and simulation of electromagnetic waves becomes a very crucial step in the design process. Consequently, a subsection of this thesis will focus on a proposed enhancement to the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) to model moving structures more efficiently and more realistically. This technique is named Linear Dielectric Interpolation and will be applied to more realistically and efficiently model the proposed photonic crystal MEMS/NEMS wavelength conversion mechanism

Orbital angular momentum in optical fibers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityInternet data traffic capacity is rapidly reaching limits imposed by nonlinear effects of single mode fibers currently used in optical communications. Having almost exhausted available degrees of freedom to orthogonally multiplex data in optical fibers, researchers are now exploring the possibility of using the spatial dimension of fibers, via multicore and multimode fibers, to address the forthcoming capacity crunch. While multicore fibers require complex manufacturing, conventional multimode fibers suffer from mode coupling, caused by random perturbations in fibers and modal (de)multiplexers. Methods that have been developed to address the problem of mode coupling so far, have been dependent on computationally intensive digital signal processing algorithms using adaptive optics feedback or complex multiple-input multiple-output algorithms. Here we study the possibility of using the orbital angular momentum (OAM), or helicity, of light, as a means of increasing capacity of future optical fiber communication links. We first introduce a class of specialty fibers designed to minimize mode coupling and show their potential for OAM mode generation in fibers using numerical analysis. We then experimentally confirm the existence of OAM states in these fibers using methods based on fiber gratings and spatial light modulators. In order to quantify the purity of created OAM states, we developed two methods based on mode-image analysis, showing purity of OAM states to be 90% after 1km in these fibers. Finally, in order to demonstrate data transmission using OAM states, we developed a 4-mode multiplexing and demultiplexing systems based on free-space optics and spatial light modulators. Using simple coherent detection methods, we successfully transmit data at 400Gbit/s using four OAM modes at a single wavelength, over 1.1 km of fiber. Furthermore, we achieve data transmission at 1.6Tbit/s using 10 wavelengths and two OAM modes. Our study indicates that OAM light can exist, and be long lived, in a special class of fibers and our data transmission demonstrations show that OAM could be considered an additional degree of freedom for data multiplexing in future optical fiber communication links. Our studies open the doors for other applications such as micro-endoscopy and nanoscale imaging which require fiber based remote delivery of OAM light

Chains of coupled square dielectric optical microcavities

Chains of coupled square dielectric cavities are investigated in a 2-D setting, by means of a quasi-analytical eigenmode expansion method. Resonant transfer of optical power can be achieved along quite arbitrary, moderately long rectangular paths (up to 9 coupled cavities are considered), even with individual standing-wave resonators of limited quality. We introduce an ab-initio coupled mode model, based on a simple superposition of slab mode profiles as a template for the field of individual cavities. Although no loss mechanisms are built in, the model can still help to interprete the results of the former numerical experiments