Optical network components based on microring resonators

In the last years much effort has been made to arrive at optical integrated circuits with high complexity and advanced functionality for application in optical networks. For this aim high index contrast structures, like optical microresonators, are employed that allow for a large number of functional elements within a given chip area: VLSI photonics. Experimental results of work performed at MESA+ will be reported including a microresonator-based, ultra-compact reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer operating at 40 Gbit/s and fabricated in SiON technology. In addition a discussion will be given of new challenges and possible solutions

High index contrast photonics components for optical data communication

Microresonator-based high index contrast integrated optical components show promising performance for the demands of near-future optical networks. Experimental results of an ultra-compact reconfigurable OADM at 40 Gbit/s are presented in detail

Reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer using microring resonators

We report a reconfigurable four-channel optical add-drop multiplexer for use in access networks. The optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) is based on vertically coupled thermally tunable Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/--SiO/sub 2/ microring resonators (MRs) and has been realized on a footprint of 0.25 mm/sup 2/. Individual MRs in the OADM can be tuned across the full free-spectral range of 4.18 nm and have a 3-dB bandwidth of 50 GHz

Box-Shaped Dielectric Waveguides: A New Concept in Integrated Optics?

A novel class of optical waveguides with a box-shaped cross section consisting of a low-index inner material surrounded by a thin high-index coating layer is presented. This original multilayered structure widens the traditional concept of index contrast for dielectric waveguides toward a more general concept of effective index contrast, which can be artificially tailored over a continuous range by properly choosing the thickness of the outer high-index layers. An electromagnetic analysis is reported, which shows that the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes are spatially confined in different regions of the cross section and exhibit an almost 90degC rotational symmetry. Such unusual field distribution is demonstrated to open the way to new intriguing properties with respect to conventional waveguides. Design criteria are provided into details, which mainly focus on the polarization dependence of the waveguide on geometrical parameters. The possibility of achieving single-mode waveguides with either zero or high birefringence is discussed, and the bending capabilities are compared to conventional waveguides. The feasibility of the proposed waveguide is demonstrated by the realization of prototypal samples that are fabricated by using the emerging CMOS- compatible Si3N4-SiO2 TriPleX technology. An exhaustive experimental characterization is reported, which shows propagation loss as low as state-of-the-art low-index-contrast waveguides (< 0.1 dB/cm) together with enhanced flexibility in the optimization of polarization sensitivity and confirms the high potentialities of the proposed waveguides for large-scale integrated optics

Flexible optical and millimeter-wave analog-RoF transmission with a silicon-based integrated dual laser module

A hybrid integrated InP-Si3N4 dual tunable laser module is deployed as a highly flexible source for converged optical/mm-wave fronthaul. Experimental results show the wavelength flexible delivery of 5G signals over analog radio-over-fiber, incorporating wireless transmission at 60 GHz, with received EVMs as low as 5%

28 GBd PAM-8 transmission over a 100 nm range using an InP-Si3N4 based integrated dual tunable laser module

This paper describes the detailed characterization of a novel InP-Si3N4 dual laser module with results revealing relative intensity noise (RIN) as low as -165 dB/Hz and wide wavelength tunability (100 nm). The hybrid coupled laser is deployed in an unamplified 28 GBd 8 level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) short-reach data center (DC) transmission system. System performance, which is experimentally evaluated in terms of received signal bit error ratio (BER), demonstrates the ability of the proposed laser module to support PAM-8 transmission across a 100 nm tuning range with less than 1 dB variance in receiver sensitivity over the operating wavelength range. Comparative performance studies not only indicate that the proposed source can outperform a commercial external cavity laser (ECL) in an intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) link but also highlight the critical impact of RIN in the design of advanced modulation short-reach systems.Science Foundation Ireland (12/RC/2276_P2, 13/RC/2077_P2, 16/RI/3698, 18/EPSRC/3591, 18/SIRG/5579)

Silicon photonics open access foundry services review for emerging technology

This paper presents a summary review of some of the available foundry services offering Silicon Photonics, comparing the key technologies available to European technology innovators that drive the technology sector. The foundries providing these unique technologies include AMF, CEA Leti, CORNERSTONE, Global Foundries, ihp, imec, and LioniX International. The review will also show examples of Silicon Photonics in emerging application domains from selected foundries

Narrow linewidth hybrid InP-TriPleX photonic integrated tunable laser based on silicon nitride micro-ring resonators

Detailed characterization of a hybrid integrated tunable laser based on micro-ring resonators shows a tuning range of 50 nm with ~40 kHz linewidth. The device demonstrates performance comparable with commercial external cavity lasers in 16QAM coherent system