Ultra-high-speed wavelength conversion in a silicon photonic chip

Hu, Hao, Ji, Hua, Galili, Michael, Pu, Minhao, Peucheret, Christophe, Mulvad, Hans C.H., Yvind, Kresten, Hvam, Jørn M., Jeppesen, Palle and Oxenløwe, Leif K. (2011) Ultra-high-speed wavelength conversion in a silicon photonic chip. Optics Express, 19 (21), 19886-19894. (doi:10.1364/OE.19.019886).

Abstract

We have successfully demonstrated all-optical wavelength conversion of a 640-Gbit/s line-rate return-to-zero differential phase-shift keying (RZ-DPSK) signal based on low-power four wave mixing (FWM) in a silicon photonic chip with a switching energy of only ∼110 fJ/bit. The waveguide dispersion of the silicon nanowire is nano-engineered to optimize phase matching for FWM and the switching power used for the signal processing is low enough to reduce nonlinear absorption from twophoton-absorption (TPA). These results demonstrate that high-speed wavelength conversion is achievable in silicon chips with high data integrity and indicate that high-speed operation can be obtained at moderate power levels where nonlinear absorption due to TPA and free-carrier absorption (FCA) is not detrimental. This demonstration can potentially enable highspeed optical networks on a silicon photonic chip.

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Contributors

Author: Hans C.H. Mulvad

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