Caterina Taballione

Single Si 3 N 4 micro ring resonator as integrated wavelength meter with long-term reproducibility

Wavelength meters are central for many applications such as in telecommunication systems [1] or laser monitoring [2]. The primary function of a wavelength meter is to provide an output signal that changes sensitively with the wavelength of the input light. Of central importance is the reproducibility of the output signal over long time intervals during which external perturbations might negatively affect the reproducibility of the displayed wavelengths.

Photoinduced χ(2) for second harmonic generation in stoichiometric silicon nitride waveguides

We present for the first time second harmonic generation in amorphous stoichiometric Si3N4 waveguides grown via low pressure chemical vapor deposition. An effective second-order susceptibility (χ (2)) is established via the coherent photogalvanic effect. A waveguide was designed to phase match a horizontally (parallel to the waveguide width) polarized hybrid EH00 mode at 1064 nm with the higher-order hybrid transverse EH02 mode at 532 nm. A mode-locked laser delivering 6.2-ps pulses at 1064 nm with a repetition rate of 20 MHz was used as pump. When pumped with a constant average power, it was found that the photoinduced χ (2) is established over a time of the order of 1000 s in as-manufactured waveguides, during which the second harmonic signal grows from below noise to a saturation value. The life-time of the photoinduced χ (2) is at least a week. In steady state, we obtain a maximum conversion efficiency close to 0.4% for an average pump power of 13 mW inside the waveguide. The effective second-order susceptibility is found to be 8.6 pm/V.

Temperature-drift-immune wavelength meter based on an integrated micro-ring resonator

We present an integrated optical wavelength meter based on a Si3N4/SiO2 micro ring resonator (operating over a free spectral range of ≈ 2.6 nm) whose output response is immune to temperature changes. The wavelength meter readout is performed by a neural network and a non-linear optimization algorithm. This novel approach ensures a high wavelength estimation precision (≈ 50 pm). We observe a long-term reproducibility of the wavelength meter response over a time interval of one week. We investigate the influence of the ambient temperature on the estimated wavelength. We observe an immunity of the displayed output wavelength to temperature changes of up to several degrees. The temperature-drift immunity appears to be caused by deviations from the theoretically expected (perfect) transmission function of a ring resonator, i.e., caused by deviations that are usually undesired in spectroscopic devices.

Photo-induced second-order nonlinearity in stoichiometric silicon nitride waveguides

We report the observation of second-harmonic generation (SHG) in stoichiometric silicon nitride waveguides grown via low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). Quasi-rectangular waveguides with a large cross section were used, with a height of 1 µm and various different widths, from 0.6 to 1.2 µm, and with various lengths from 22 to 74 mm. Using a mode-locked laser delivering 6-ps pulses at 1064 nm wavelength with a repetition rate of 20 MHz, 15% of the incoming power was coupled through the waveguide, making maximum average powers of up to 15 mW available in the waveguide depending on the waveguide cross section. Second-harmonic output was observed with a delay of minutes to several hours after the initial turn-on of pump radiation, showing a fast growth rate between 10−4 to 10−2 s−1, with the shortest delay and highest growth rate at the highest input power. After this first, initial build-up (observed delay and growth), the second-harmonic became generated instantly with each new turn-on of the pump laser power. Phase matching was found to be present independent of the used waveguide width, although the latter changes the fundamental and second-harmonic phase velocities. We address the presence of a second-order nonlinearity and phase matching, involving an initial, power-dependent build-up, to the coherent photogalvanic effect. The effect, via the third-order nonlinearity and multiphoton absorption leads to a spatially patterned charge separation, which generates a spatially periodic, semi-permanent, DC-field-induced second-order susceptibility with a period that is appropriate for quasi-phase matching. The maximum measured second-harmonic conversion efficiency amounts to 0.4% in a waveguide with 0.9 × 1 µm2 cross section and 36 mm length, corresponding to 53 µW at 532 nm with 13 mW of IR input coupled into the waveguide. The maximum equivalent χ(2)-susceptibility amounts to 3.7 pm/V, as retrieved from the measured conversion efficiency.