van C Dam

Net optical gain at 1.53 mu m in Er-doped Al2O3 waveguides on silicon

A 4 cm long Er‐doped Al2O3 spiral waveguide amplifier was fabricated on a Si substrate, and integrated with wavelength division multiplexers within a total area of 15 mm2. When pumped with 9 mW 1.48 μm light from a laser diode, the amplifier shows 2.3 dB net optical gain at 1.53 μm. The gain threshold was 3 mW. The amplifier was doped with Er by ion implantation to a concentration of 2.7×1020 cm−3. The data agree well with calculations based on a model which includes the effects of cooperative upconversion and excited state absorption. For an optimized amplifier, net optical gain of 20 dB is predicted.

Upconversion in Er-implanted Al2O3 waveguides

When pumped with a 1.48 μm laser diode, Er‐implanted Al2O3 ridge waveguides emit a broad spectrum consisting of several distinct peaks having wavelengths ranging from the midinfrared (1.53 μm) to the visible (520 nm). In order to explain these observations, three different upconversion mechanisms are considered: cooperative upconversion, excited state absorption, and pair‐induced quenching. It is found that for samples with a high Er concentration (1.4 at. %), cooperative upconversion completely dominates the deexcitation of the Er3+ ions. For a much lower concentration (0.12 at. %), the influence of cooperative upconversion is strongly reduced, and another upconversion effect becomes apparent: excited state absorption. These conclusions are based on measurements of the luminescence emission versus pump intensity, and also on measured luminescence decay curves. The upconversion coefficient is found to be (4±1)×10−18 cm3/s; the excited state absorption cross section is (0.9±0.3)×10−21 cm2. It is shown that...

Novel compact polarization converters based on ultra short bends

A novel integrated polarization converter based on ultra short bends is presented, which has a potential for low loss and small device size. A conversion value of 85% was experimentally measured with excess loss of 2.7 dB and overall dimensions of 975/spl times/83 /spl mu/m. Also 45% conversion was measured with extremely low excess loss of 0.4 dB for a device size of 760/spl times/86 /spl mu/m.

Absorption and emission cross sections of Er(3+) in Al(2)O(3) waveguides.

Al(2)O(3) slab waveguide films were doped with erbium using ion implantation to a peak concentration of 1.5 at. %. Prism coupling measurements show absorption caused by (4)I (15/2) ?(4)I (13/2) intra-4f transitions in Er(3+) with a maximum at 1.530 mum of 8 dB/cm. The Er(3+) absorption cross section is determined as a function of wavelength. We used the McCumber theory to derive the emission cross section spectrum from the absorption results, which we then compared with the Er(3+) photoluminescence spectrum. The peak absorption and emission cross sections are found to be 6 x 10(-21) cm(-2). The results are used to predict the optical gain performance of an Er-doped Al(2)O(3) optical amplifier that operates around 1.5 mum.

Direct imaging of optical interference in erbium-doped Al2O3 waveguides

Interference of 1.48-microm light in multimode interference waveguides is made visible by imaging green and infrared upconversion luminescence from Er(3+) ions dispersed in the waveguide. A two-dimensional mode density image can be derived from the data and agrees well with mode calculations for this structure. This new technique provides an interesting tool for the study of optical mode distributions in complicated waveguide structures and photonic band-gap materials.

Compact InP-based waveguide crossings with low crosstalk and low loss

Optical waveguide crossings are becoming increasingly important due to the increasing complexity of optical chips. In switching matrices [1], multiwavelength add drop filters [2] and optical crossconnects [3] worst-case paths may contain more than five or even ten crossings. In fibre-matched waveguides structures as used in lithium niobate or silica-based technology, crossings with very low crosstalk and loss can be realised [4,5]. We have found that in highly integrated semiconductor devices crossings may contribute significantly to the loss and crosstalk performance. In this paper we present the results of a series of experiments for design of high-performance semiconductor waveguide crossings.

Low-crosstalk and low-loss waveguide crossings on InP with small dimensions

Abstract With the increasing scale of integration, resulting in a higher on-chip complexity, waveguide crossings with good performance are becoming increasingly important. Worst-case paths contain a high number of crossings, depending on the number of channels being processed, in switching matrices [11, multiwavelength add drop filters [2] (up to 151, and optical cross-connects [3]. Crossings with very low crosstalk and loss can be realized in fiber-matched waveguide structures as used in lithium niobate or silica-based technology [4,5]. In highly integrated semiconductor devices, crossings may contribute significantly to the loss and crosstalk performance. In this paper we present the results of a series of experiments for the design of high-performance semiconductor waveguide crossings.

Novel Compact InP-based polarisation converters using ultra short bends

A novel type of polarisation converter has been realised using deeply etched narrow InP-InGaAsP ridge waveguide bends with small bending radius. It combines low loss (2.7 dB) with compact device size (975*83 mu m) and high polarisation conversion (>85%). It is realized using curved waveguides with small bending radii. Strong polarization conversion (>85%) is measured with excess loss of only 2.7 dB