Stefan F. Preble

All-optical compact silicon comb switch

We demonstrate a 1x2 all-optical comb switch using a 200 mum diameter silicon ring resonator with a switching time of less than 1 ns. The switch overcomes the small bandwidth of the traditional ring resonator, and works for wavelength division multiplexing applications. The device has a footprint of ~0.04 mm(2) and enables switching of a large number (~40) of wavelength channels spaced by ~0.85 nm.

Ultrafast all-optical modulation on a silicon chip

We experimentally demonstrate ultrafast all-optical modulation using a micrometer-sized silicon photonic integrated device. The device transmission is strongly modulated by photoexcited carriers generated by low-energy pump pulses. A p-i-n junction is integrated on the structure to permit control of the generated carrier lifetimes. When the junction is reverse biased, carriers are extracted from the device in a time as short as 50 ps, permitting greater than 5 Gbit/s modulation of optical signals on a silicon chip.

Two-dimensional photonic crystals designed by evolutionary algorithms

We use evolutionary algorithms to design photonic crystal structures with large band gaps. Starting from randomly generated photonic crystals, the algorithm yielded a photonic crystal with a band gap (defined as the gap to midgap ratio) as large as 0.3189. This band gap is an improvement of 12.5% over the best human design using the same index contrast platform.

Optical nonlinearities in hydrogenated-amorphous silicon waveguides.

We experimentally measure the optical nonlinearities in hydrogenated-amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) waveguides through the transmission of ultra-short pulses. The measured two-photon absorption coefficient beta is 4.1 cm/GW and we obtain a 3.5pi nonlinear phase shift at 4.1 W coupled input power corresponding to a nonlinear refractive index n(2) of 4.210(-13) cm(2)/W. The measured nonlinear coefficient gamma = 2003 (Wm)(-1) is at least 5 times the value in crystalline silicon. The measured free carrier absorption coefficient sigma = 1.910(-16) cm(2) agrees with the values predicted from the Drude-Lorenz model. It is seen that a-Si:H exhibits enhanced nonlinear properties at 1550 nm and is a promising platform for nonlinear silicon photonics.

Nanocavity in a silicon waveguide for ultrasensitive nanoparticle detection

We demonstrate the use of a micron-size planar silicon photonic device for the detection of ultralow concentrations of metal nanoparticles. The high detection sensitivity is achieved by using a strong light confining structure that enhances the effective extinction cross section of metal nanoparticles. We demonstrate the detection of 10nm diameter gold particles with a density of fewer than 1.25 particles per 0.04μm2. Using such a device one could detect the presence of single metal nanoparticles specifically bound to various analytes, enabling ultrasensitive detection of analytes including DNA, RNA, proteins, and antigens.

Broadband all-optical modulation in hydrogenated-amorphous silicon waveguides.

We demonstrate broadband all-optical modulation in low loss hydrogenated-amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) waveguides. Significant modulation (approximately 3 dB) occurs with a device of only 15 microm without the need for cavity interference effects in stark contrast to an identical crystalline silicon waveguide. We attribute the enhanced modulation to the significantly larger free-carrier absorption effect of a-Si:H, estimated here to be alpha = 1.6310(-16)N cm(-1). In addition, we measured the modulation time to be only tau(c) approximately 400 ps, which is comparable to the recombination rate measured in sub-micron crystalline silicon waveguides, illustrating the strong dominance of surface recombination in similar sized (460 nm x 250 nm) a-Si:H waveguides. Consequently, a-Si:H could serve as a high performance platform for backend integrated CMOS photonics.

Imaging highly confined modes in sub-micron scale silicon waveguides using Transmission-based Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy

We demonstrate a new technique for high resolution imaging of near field profiles in highly confining photonic structures. This technique, Transmission-based Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy (TraNSOM), measures changes in transmission through a waveguide resulting from near field perturbation by a scanning metallic probe. Using this technique we compare different mode polarizations and measure a transverse optical decay length of lambda/15 in sub-micron Silicon On Insulator (SOI) waveguides. These measurements compare well to theoretical results.

Controlled storage of light in silicon cavities.

We experimentally demonstrate a tunable delay element that is inherently insensitive to free-carrier loss and achieves up to 300ps of delay. It is capable of arbitrarily storing and releasing a pulse of light through dynamic tuning of a system of microcavities. The inherent storage time is more than 32 times the duration of the stored pulse.

Optical time division multiplexer on silicon chip.

In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a novel broadband optical time division multiplexer (OTDM) on a silicon chip. The fabricated devices generate 20 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s signals starting from a 5 Gb/s input signal. The proposed design has a small footprint of 1mm x 1mm. The system is inherently broadband with a bandwidth of over 100nm making it suitable for high-speed optical networks on chip.

On-Chip Quantum Interference from a Single Silicon Ring-Resonator Source

Here we demonstrate quantum interference of photons on a Silicon chip produced from a single ring resonator photon source. The source is seamlessly integrated with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which path entangles degenerate bi-photons produced via spontaneous four wave mixing in the Silicon ring resonator. The resulting bi-photon N00N state is controlled by varying the relative phase of the integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer, resulting in high two-photon interference visibilities of V~96%. Furthermore, we show that the interference can be produced using pump wavelengths tuned to all of the ring resonances accessible with our tunable lasers (C+L band). This work is a key demonstration towards the simplified integration of multiple photon sources and quantum circuits together on a monolithic chip, in turn, enabling quantum information chips with much greater complexity and functionality.