Tunable optical filter using second-order micro-ring resonator

In this paper, we design and fabricate a silicon integrated optical filter consisting of two cascaded micro-ring resonators and two straight waveguides. Two micro-heaters are fabricated on the top of two micro-rings respectively, which are employed to modulate the micro-rings to perform the function of a tunable optical filter by the thermo–optic effect. The static response test indicates that the extinction ratio and 3-d B bandwidth are 29.01 d B and 0.21 nm respectively, the dynamic response test indicates that the 10%–90% rise and 90%–10% fall time of the filter are 16 μs and 12 μs, respectively,which can meet the requirements of optical communication and information processing. Finally, the power consumption of the device is also characterized, and the total power consumption is about 9.43 m W/nm, which has been improved efficiently.

Full-vectorial analysis of optical waveguides by the finite difference method based on polynomial interpolation

Based on the polynomial interpolation, a new finite difference （FD） method in solving the full-vectorial guidedmodes for step-index optical waveguides is proposed. The discontinuities of the normal components of the electric field across abrupt dielectric interfaces are considered in the absence of the limitations of scalar and semivectorial approximation, and the present PD scheme can be applied to both uniform and non-uniform mesh grids. The modal propagation constants and field distributions for buried rectangular waveguides and optical rib waveguides are presented. The hybrid nature of the vectorial modes is demonstrated and the singular behaviours of the minor field components in the corners are observed. Moreover, solutions are in good agreement with those published early, which tests the validity of the present approach.

Nanophotonics and negative ε materials

The feasibility of using metal optics or negative ε materials, with the aim of reducing the transversal extent of waveguided photonic fields to values much less than the vacuum wavelength, in order to achieve significantly higher densities of integration in integrated photonics circuits that is possible today is discussed. Relevant figures of merit are formulated to this end and used to achieve good performance of devices with today＇s materials and to define required improvements in materials characteristics in terms of decreased scattering rates in the Drude model. The general conclusion is that some metal based circuits are feasible with today＇s matals. Frequency selective metal devices will have Q values on the order of only 10-100, and significant improvements of scattering rates or lowering of the imaginary part of e have to be achieved to implement narrowband devices. A photonic ＂Moore＇s law＂ of integration densities is proposed and exemplified.

Efficient evanescent coupling design for GeSi electro-absorption modulator

Efficient coupling from the silicon waveguide to the GeSi layer is the key to success in the GeSi electro-absorption （EA） modulator based on evanescent coupling. A lateral taper in the upper GeSi layer has room for increasing the modulating efficiency and alleviating the sensitivity of the extinction ratio （ER） and insertion loss （IL） to the length of the active region. The light behavior and the effect of the taper are explored in detail using the beam propagation method （BPM）. After optimization, the light can nearly be totally confined in the GeSi layer without any oscillation. The modulator with the designed taper can achieve low IL and high ER.