Driscoll Columbia 0054D 11867

Silicon Photonics: All-Optical Devices for Linear
and Nonlinear Applications
Jerey B. Driscoll
Submitted in partial fulllment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
2014
©2014
Jerey B. Driscoll
All Rights Reserved

ABSTRACT
Silicon Photonics: All-Optical Devices for Linear and Nonlinear Applications
Jerey B. Driscoll
Silicon photonics has grown rapidly since the rst Si electro-optic switch was demonstrated in
1987 [1], and the eld has never grown more quickly than it has over the past decade, fueled
by milestone achievements in semiconductor processing technologies for low loss waveguides,
high-speed Si modulators, Si lasers, Si detectors, and an enormous toolbox of passive and
active integrated devices. Silicon photonics is now on the verge of major commercialization
breakthroughs, and optical communication links remain the force driving integrated and Si
photonics towards the rst commercial telecom and datacom transceivers; however other
potential and future applications are becoming uncovered and rened as researchers reveal
the benets of manipulating photons on the nanoscale.
This thesis documents an exploration into the unique guided-wave and nonlinear prop-
erties of deeply-scaled high-index-contrast sub-wavelength Si waveguides. It is found that
the tight connement inherent to single-mode channel waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator
platform lead to a rich physics, which can be leveraged for new devices extending well beyond
simple passive interconnects and electro-optic devices.
The following chapters will concentrate, in detail, on a number of unique physical features
of Si waveguides and extend these attributes towards new and interesting devices. Linear op-
tical properties and nonlinear optical properties are investigated, both of which are strongly
aected by tight optical connement of the guided waveguide modes.
As will be shown, tight optical connement directly results in strongly vectoral modal
components, where the electric and magnetic elds of the guided modes extend into all
spatial dimensions, even along the axis of propagation. In fact, the longitudinal electric and
magnetic eld components can be just as strong as the transverse elds, directly aecting the
modal group velocity and energy transport properties since the longitudinal elds are shown
to contribute no time-averaged momentum. Furthermore, the vectoral modal components, in
conjunction with the tensoral nature of the third-order susceptibility of Si, lead to nonlinear
properties which are dependent on waveguide orientation with respect to the Si parent crystal
and the construction of the modal electric eld components. This consideration is used to
maximize eective nonlinearity and realize nonlinear Kerr gratings along specic waveguide
trajectories.
Tight optical connement leads to a natural enhancement of the intrinsically large eec-
tive nonlinearty of Si waveguides, and in fact, the eective nonlinearty can be made to be
almost 106 times greater in Si waveguides than that of standard single-mode ber. Such a
large nonlinearity motivates chip-scale all-optical signal processing techniques. Wavelength
conversion by both four-wave-mixing (FWM) and cross-phase-modulation (XPM) will be
discussed, including a technique that allows for enhanced broadband discrete FWM over
arbitrary spectral spans by modulating both the linear and nonlinear waveguide properties
through periodic changes in waveguide geometry. This quasi-phase-matching approach has
very real applications towards connecting mature telecom sources detectors and components
to other spectral regimes, including the mid-IR. Other signal processing techniques such as
all-optical modulation format conversion via XPM will also be discussed.
This thesis will conclude by looking at ways to extend the bandwidth capacity of Si waveg-
uide interconnects on chip. As the number of processing cores continues to scale as a means
for computational performance gains, on-chip link capacity will become an increasingly im-
portant issue. Metallic traces have severe limitations and are envisioned to eventually bow
to integrated photonic links. The aggregate bandwidth supported by a single waveguide link
will therefore become a crucial consideration as integrated photonics approaches the CPU.
One way to increase aggregate bandwidth is to utilize dierent eigen-modes of a multimode
waveguide, and integrated waveguide mode-muxes and demuxes for achieving simultaneous
mode- and wavelength-division-multiplexing will be demonstrated.

Table of Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xxii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Photonics: A Disruptive Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Challenges with SOI as a Photonics Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Silicon Photonics: Enabling Technologies for the SOI Platform . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.1 Si Photonic Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.2 Si Photonic Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.3 Electro-Optic Control for Si Photonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.4 Si Photonic Modulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.5 A Toolbox of Si Photonic Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Si Photonics for Nonlinear Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 Scope of this Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Silicon Waveguide Fabrication 16

2.1 Fabrication Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1.1 Wafer Selection and Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.2 Oxide Hard-Mask Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.3 HSQ Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
i
2.2 Si Etching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2.1 Cryogenically Cooled SF6 /O2 Etch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2.2 HBr/Cl Si Etch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3 Fabricated Si Waveguides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4 Mode Converters for Ecient Coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4.1 Inverse Tapered Waveguide and Polymer Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4.2 Inverse Taper with Oxide Cladding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.5 Propagation Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.6 Future Paths to Reduced Sidewall Roughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.7 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Modeling Nonlinear Si Photonic Processes 40

3.1 Kerr Nonlinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.1.1 Eective Complex Third-Order Susceptibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.2 Nonlinear Loss and Carrier Eects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2.1 Two-Photon-Absorption (TPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2.2 Free-Carrier Absorption (FCA) and Dispersion (FCD) . . . . . . . . 44
3.3 Kerr Nonlinear Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.3.1 Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.3.2 Cross-Phase-Modulation (XPM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.3.3 Self-Phase-Modulation (SPM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4 Large Longitudinal Electric Fields in Si Waveguides 56

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
ii
4.2 Basic Theoretical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.2.1 Origin of Longitudinal Modal Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.2.2 Longitudinal Components and Energy Transport . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.2.3 Electric and Magnetic Energy Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.2.4 Relationship Between Ez , Group Velocity, and Dispersion . . . . . . . 63
4.2.5 Conclusions from Theoretical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.3 Calculation and Optimization of Ez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.4 Harnessing and Controlling the Longitudinal Electric Field . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5 Dependence of Waveguide Geometry on Eective Nonlinearity 74

5.1 Geometry-Dependent Parameters Aecting γ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.2 Mapping the Geometrical-Dependence of γ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6 Directionally Anisotropic Si Nanowires 80

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.2 Dependence of Si Crystallographic Orientation on Waveguide γ . . . . . . . 81
6.2.1 Nonlinear Kerr Grating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.2.2 Dependence of Waveguide Orientation on γ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.2.3 Dependence of Waveguide Polarization on γ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.2.4 Optimization of Nonlinear Ring Resonators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7 Quasi-Phase-Matched Four-Wave-Mixing in Si Waveguides 94

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
7.2 QPM-FWM Principle of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
iii
7.3 QPM-FWM via Anisotropic Si Nonlinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.4 QPM-FWM via w-Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.4.1 Using w-Modulation to Compensate Phase Mismatch . . . . . . . . . 103
7.4.2 Width-Modulated Waveguides: Design and Fabrication . . . . . . . . 103
7.4.3 QPM-FWM Experimental Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.4.4 Experimental Demonstration of QPM-FWM in a Si Waveguide . . . . 106
7.5 Theoretical analysis of QPM-FWM via w-Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7.5.1 QPM-FWM w-Modulation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7.5.2 Variation of FWM Parameters with Waveguide Width . . . . . . . . 111
7.5.3 Modeling QPM-FWM with Experimental Parameters . . . . . . . . . 112
7.5.4 w-Modulation Parameter-Dependence on CE Spectrum . . . . . . . . 114
7.5.5 QPM FWM Between C-band and Mid-IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.5.6 QPM-FWM and Zero-Dispersion-Wavelength Pumping . . . . . . . . 120
7.5.7 QPM-FWM Seeded by Modulation Instability . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
8 All-Optical Signal Processing via XPM 125

8.1 XPM Wavelength Conversion of RZ-OOK Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
8.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
8.1.2 XPM-WC Principle of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.1.3 Silicon Waveguide used for XPM-WC Demonstration . . . . . . . . . 128
8.1.4 Experimental Procedures for XPM-WC Demonstration . . . . . . . . 129
8.1.5 Optical Limiting and Insertion Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
8.1.6 Demonstration of XPM-WC in a Si Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
iv
8.1.7 XPM-WC Mathematical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.1.8 XPM-WC Modeling Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8.1.9 Potential for XPM Multicasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.2 Format Conversion in a Si Waveguide via XPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.2.2 Demonstration of XPM NRZ-to-RZ-OOK Format Conversion . . . . 157
8.2.3 XPM-FC Modeling Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9 Mode- and Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing in a Si Waveguide 161

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
9.2 Advantages of Multimode Waveguides for On-Chip Interconnects . . . . . . . 163
9.3 Asymmetric Y-junctions for MDM Muxes and Demuxes . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
9.3.1 Asymmetric Y-Junctions as Mode Sorters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
9.3.2 Asymmetric Y-Junction Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
9.3.3 Fabricated Asymmetric Y-Junction Characterization . . . . . . . . . 167
9.3.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9.4 Coherently Suppressed Crosstalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9.5 Properties and Fabrication of Mux/Demux Used for MDM . . . . . . . . . . 174
9.6 MDM and MDM-WDM Experimental Setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.7 MDM and MDM-WDM Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.7.1 2 × 10-Gb/s MDM Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.7.2 2 × 3 × 10-Gb/s MDM-WDM Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
9.8 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
v
10 Conclusions 188
11 Bibliography 191
A List of Publications 219

A.1 Peer Reviewed Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
A.2 Conference Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
vi
List of Figures
2.1 (a) Typical Si-on-insulator (SOI) materials stack including thin Si device/epi
layer, SiO2 burried-oxide-layer (BOX), and thick Si handle wafer. (b) Typical
Si waveguide fabricated on the SOI platform. Waveguide widths typically
vary between 300 nm 700 nm, and waveguide heights typically vary between
200 nm 400 nm. The waveguide Si core is decoupled from the Si handle
wafer by a BOX between 1 µm 3 µm thick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 PECVD SiO2 deposition for thin hard mask at dierent temperatures: (a)
100◦ C, (b) 160◦ C, (c) 400◦ C. The most uniform lm with the smallest grain
diamters are observed for the thin lm grown at 400◦ C. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3 Fabrication process for dening Si waveguides using oxide hard-mask process.
(a) HSQ e-beam resist is spun on the surface of an SOI wafer with 250 nm
device layer and 3 µm BOX layer. (b) e-beam lithography is performed to
dene the waveguide structures. (c) ICP etching transfers the patters in the
resist mask to the Si layer. (c) An SiO2 top-cladding is deposited via PECVD 20
2.4 Optical micrograph of bulk sleeve method. The sleeve is written rst with
ne resolution, followed by the bulk regions with a much coarser resolution. . 22
vii
2.5 Fabrication process for dening Si waveguides using HSQ process. (a) HSQ
e-beam resist is spun on the surface of an SOI wafer with 250 nm device
layer and 3 µm BOX layer. (b) e-beam lithography is performed to dene the
waveguide structures. (c) ICP etching transfers the patters in the resist mask
to the Si layer. (c) An SiO2 top-cladding is deposited via PECVD . . . . . . 25
2.6 Example of Si pillars formed by HSQ development process with HSQ residue
left behind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7 A collection of images showing fabricated waveguides with smooth sidewalls. 29
2.8 A collection of images showing fabricated Si photonic devices using the fabri-
cation methods described in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.9 A collection of images showing fabricated Si photonic devices using the fabri-
cation methods described in this chapter, extended from Fig. 2.8 . . . . . . . 31
2.10 Cartoon showing operation of the SU-8 spot-size-converter (SSC). A nanota-
per was used to squeeze the mode into the SU-8 waveguide, which then guided
the light to the edge of a cleaved chip for edge-coupling. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.11 Optical micrographs showing fabricated SSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.12 Concept for on-chip mode-converter based on a nanotaper with extended tip. 36
2.13 Optical micrograph showing a number of densely pack Si photonic devices,
including ring resonators and optical delay lines of dierent length used for
extracting propagation loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.14 Measured propagation loss using a cutback method for QTE mode of a 250
× 600 nm oxide-clad waveguide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
viii
4.1 The Ex (Ey ) and Ez components of the fundamental QTE (QTM) mode
supported by a 260 nm × 400 nm Si nanowire waveguide surrounded by SiO2
cladding. Graded yellow and blue colors indicate a π -phase dierence. . . . . 66
4.2 |Ez(max) /ET(max) | for the QTE and QTM modes of Si waveguides with variable
dimensions, SiO2 substrate, and air (a,b) or SiO2 (c,d) cladding. . . . . . . . 67
4.3 |Ez(max) /ET(max) | for the HE11 mode in a cylindrical Si nanowire of variable
diameter, and air (top blue line) or SiO2 (bottom red line) cladding. . . . . . 69
4.4 The (a) Ex and (b) Ez electric eld components of a mode propagating in a
260 nm × 500 nm Si nanowire with SiO2 cladding. (c) |Ez /ET(max) |2 40 nm
from the endface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.5 The (a) transverse (Ex ) and (b) longitudinal (Ez ) eld components of the fun-
damental antisymmetric system mode supported by (c) dual waveguides where
each waveguide has cross-section dimensions 260 nm × 500 nm separated by
a 50 nm gap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.6 The (a) Ez and (b) Ex electric eld components at the endface of dual 260 nm
× 500 nm Si nanowire waveguides with SiO2 cladding, 50 nm gap, terminated
into air, and excited by the fundamental antisymmetric system mode. (c)
|Ez |2 near the edge of the dual waveguide structure. Contour plot (d) and
line scan (e) of |Ez |2 40 nm from the edge of the waveguide. . . . . . . . . . 72
5.1 (a) Dependence of waveguide parameters on waveguide geometry. The Si
waveguide considered has air top-cladding with h = 250 nm, and λ = 1.55
µm. A maximum γ of 430 W−1 m−1 occurs for a 250 nm × 350 nm waveguide.
(b) Dependence of the F value for Ez , Et , and E on waveguide geometry. . . 76
ix
5.2 Variation of γ with the waveguide geometry. The Si waveguide considered
had air top-cladding, and λ = 1.55 µm. (a) Dimension dependence for the
QTE mode, where a maximum nonlinearity of 430 W−1 m−1 occurs for a 250
nm × 330 nm waveguide. (b) Dimension dependence for the QTM mode,
where a maximum nonlinearity of 340 W−1 m−1 occurs for a 300 nm × 320
nm waveguide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.1 (a) Initial orientation of Si waveguide with respect to Si crystal. (b) γ vs. Si
crystal rotation (about the [001] direction) for a 220 nm × 500 nm waveguide
(3) (3)
and λ = 1.55 µm. χ1111 /χ1122 = 2, 2.15, 2.36, 2.75 and 3 is considered. . . . 82
6.2 Nonlinear optical grating on-chip via (a) ring resonator or (b) CWBs. (c) ∆n
(as dened in inset) experienced by the pump formed by nonlinear grating
versus Pp . A copropagating signal would experience 2∆n due to cross-phase-
modulation [2]. (d) ∆β compensated by a grating formed in a ring resonator
or CWBs of varying R. Points 1, 2, 3 give examples of phase matching with a
100 mW pump at λp = 1.55 µm and a R, λs , and λi of (1) 20.7-, 2-, 1.265-µm;
(2) 100-, 1.714-, 1.415-µm; and (3) 900-, 1.601-, 1.502-µm, respectively. . . . 84
6.3 Variation of γ vs. Si crystal rotation for a 250 nm × 500 nm Si waveguide
with air top-cladding and λ = 1.55 µm. Both a rotation about the y-axis
(0 ≤ θ2 ≤ π ) and z -axis (0 ≤ θ1 ≤ π ) is shown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
x
6.4 (a) Dierence in γ between the QTE and QTM modes for symmetric Si waveg-
uides of dierent D clad by SiO2 and λ = 1.55 µm. The QTM mode expe-
riences a smaller γ than the QTE mode due to the crystalline properties of
Si. The inset shows the orientation of the Si waveguide with respect to the Si
crystal. (b) Electric eld proles for the Ex (Ey ) and Ez /j components of the
QTE (QTM) mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.5 Mode transverse electric eld polarization (arrows) and transverse eld am-
plitude (contour plot) for the (a) QTE mode (dominantly polarized along the
x-axis) (b) QTM mode (dominantly polarized along the y -axis), and (c) a
mode constructed by the simultaneous equal excitation of the QTE mode and
QTM mode (dominantly polarized along θ2 = π/4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.6 Dependence of γ on the waveguide width, for a waveguide with h = 250
nm, and λ = 1.55 µm, pointed along the [11̄0] axis, and the same waveguide
rotated about the y -axis by θ1 = π/4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.7 Optimizing the eective nonlinearity in ring resonators. (a) Circular ring
resonator (b) Increasing γ̄ring by increasing the length of the circumference
of the resonator oriented along the favorable [11̄0] or [110] axes. The input
coupler is circular such that the same coupling condition is achieved for both
the ring resonator and straight bus waveguide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
xi
7.1 Illustration of how telecom-based sources, detectors, and components can be
connected to mid-IR system via FWM wavelength up- and down-converters.
Examples of mid-IR applications include free-space communication, absorp-
tion spectroscopy, and on-chip sensing. For FWM to be used over such large
spectral spans, dispersion needs to be carefully considered and managed. One
example of an enabling dispersion management technique, is quasi-phase-
matching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
7.2 Illustration of QPM FWM in a w-modulated Si waveguide. Input pump and
signal waves interact via FWM to generate an idler. The conversion eciency
of this FWM process is enhanced for specic wavelengths due to the periodic
modulation of waveguide parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
7.3 General geometric parameters of cascaded-waveguide-bends used for QPM-

0 0 0
FWM, including the denitions for x̂ , ŷ , and ẑ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.4 Conversion eciency for varying λs in CWBs with R = 47.98 µm and λp =
1.55 µm. A ∼ 12 dB enhancement occurs for λs = 1.78 µm. The inset plots
the conversion eciency enhancement as a function of pump power . . . . . 102
7.5 (a) SEM image of the narrowest region. (b) SEM image of the widest region.
(c) SEM image of Si waveguide sidewall. (d) SEM of the tip of the inverse-
taper. (e) Sketch of a w-modulated Si waveguide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.6 FWM experimental set-up: PC = polarization controller, WDM = wavelength
division multiplexer, LP = linear polarizer, LTF = lensed tapered ber, PRX
= power meter, OSA = optical spectrum analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
xii
7.7 FWM spectra for λp = 1543 nm and varying λs , in the case of (a) a 250 nm ×
600 nm uniform waveguide and (b) a w-modulated waveguide with wDC = 600
nm, ∆w = 30 nm, Λ = 1 mm, h = 250 nm. The background noise level is
raised for C-band wavelengths since a dierent laser was used to access this
spectral region, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The generated idlers also interact
with the pump via cascaded FWM to produce higher order idlers, which can
be observed as artifacts on the red side of the pump. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.8 (a) Experimentally determined FWM CE spectrum demonstrating a CE en-
hancement near λ = 1668 nm for the w-modulated device compared to the
straight device. (b) Measured CE enhancement as a function of signal wave-
length, indicating a ∼ 12 dB enhancement for λs = 1668 nm. (b) is found by
taking the dierence (in dB) between the two curves in (a). . . . . . . . . . . 109
7.9 Variation of two important waveguide parameters, β2 and γ , along the length
of a w-modulated waveguide for wDC = 600 nm, ∆w = 30 nm, and Λ = 1 mm. 113
7.10 (a) Wavelength dependence of Dλ of the waveguide used in the calculations,
for w = 600 nm. The inset shows a diagram of the cross-section used to
approximate the sidewall etched prole observed in Fig. 7.5(d). (b) Calculated
CE spectrum for the straight (black line), and w-modulated waveguide case
(red line), indicating a ∼ 12 dB CE enhancement for the w-modulated device.
Results match well with the measured CE spectrum shown in Fig. 7.8(a).
The inset shows how the peak CE of the enhanced sideband varies with pump
power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
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7.11 Calculated CE spectrum for (a) ∆w = 30 nm, and Λ varying between 0 and
5 mm (oset 10 dB for clarity), (b) Λ = 1 mm, and varying ∆w between 0
and 60 nm (oset 10 dB for clarity). (c) A more detailed plot of the enhanced
sideband for the ∆w = 20 nm Λ = 1 mm case, demonstrating spectral splitting.116
7.12 (a) FWM CE spectrum for a uniform 250 nm × 500 nm Si waveguide (black
line), and a w-modulated Si waveguide with wDC = 500 nm, ∆w = 15 nm,
and λ = 280 µm (red line). A CE enhancement is observed between the C-
band and mid-IR, for the w-modulated device. Insets show the Ex component
of the fundamental QTE mode, for a wavelength of 1550 nm and 2000 nm,
demonstrating that the mode is conned at both wavelengths. (b) Enhanced
sideband on both the blue- and red-side of the pump, for dierent ∆w, showing
the ability to tune the sideband bandwidth. Spectra are oset by 10 dB for
clarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.13 The FWM CE spectrum resulting from both a uniform 250 nm × 500 nm
Si waveguide (black line), and a w-modulated device with w(z) formed by a
superposition of sinusoidal w-modulations. A CE enhancement is observed
across the entire C-band. The inset shows the waveguide width, w(z), formed
by using Eq. 10, with cn (n = 1, 2, ... 10) = 10 nm, wDC = 500 nm, and λn
as listed in Table 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
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7.14 The CE spectrum for a 300 nm × 1000 nm Si waveguide with 30 nm slab height
and ∆wslab = 100 nm,wDC,slab = 600 nm, and Λ = 3000 µm. An enhanced CE
sideband is present due to QPM, and facilitates FWM over more than 1000
nm, between 1625 nm and 2695 nm. The peak CE of the sideband is −25
dB, only 8 dB below the CE near the pump wavelength. The inset shows a
schematic illustrating a slab-modulated Si waveguide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
7.15 (a) ∆β for various λs considering a 300 nm × 700 nm × 30 nm Si waveguide.
Horizontal lines show signal wavelengths phase-matched by a Λ = 1 mm and
Λ = 5 mm grating. (b) Spectral location of the MI sideband for various
waveguide widths between 700 nm and 800 nm showing tunability of the
sideband. (c) Schematic dening the parameters for slab-modulation. (d)
FWM CE spectrum in a (black line) uniform waveguide, and a slab-modulated
waveguide for (red line) Λ = 1 mm and (blue line) Λ = 5 mm, demonstrating
how the MI sideband can seed further sidebands via QPM. For Λ = 1 mm,
higher-order sidebands can be observed [m > 1 in (1)]. The phase-matched
points in (a), p1p6, can be observed in (d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
8.1 XPM-WC principle of operation. The RZ-OOK pump and CW probe co-
propagate in a Si waveguide, causing the spectrum of the probe to broaden
when it overlaps with a "1"-bit of the pump. An XPM-WC lter is then used
to select part of the broadened spectrum, converting the phase modulation
due to XPM to amplitude modulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
xv
8.2 The real part of the Ex and Ey components for the QTE and QTM modes,
showing the higher eld connement associated with the QTE mode compared
to the QTM, which results in higher optical intensity and eective nonlinearity. 128
8.3 Experimental set-up: PPG=pulsed-pattern generator, PRBS=pseudo-random
bit sequence, CW=continuous-wave, EDFA=Erbium-doped ber amplier,
PC=polarization controller, LTF=lensed-tapered-ber, OBPF=optical band-
pass lter, FBG=ber Bragg grating, VOA=variable optical attenuator, PRX =receiver
power, LNF=low-noise gure, CR=clock recovery, TIA=transimpedance am-
plier, ED=error detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
8.4 Optical limiting experiment. The output pump power starts to saturate due
to TPA and TPA-induced FCA around 40 mW average input power. The CW
probe experiences no saturation eect for the power levels used. . . . . . . . 131
8.5 Signal spectra (OSA resolution bandwidth (RB) = 0.1 Å). Black (top) trace
represents output spectrum, red (bottom) trace represents the launched spec-
trum. Spectral notches were due to unused microring lters integrated with
the nanowire, and the resonant wavelengths of the microrings were carefully
avoided. The spectra have been oset for clarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.6 Evolution of spectra with increased pump Pavg (OSA RB = 1 Å). The spectra
have been oset for clarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
8.7 Probe spectra before and after interaction with the composite lter (OSA RB
= 0.1 Å). The spectrum after ltering represents the converted probe. The
spectra have been oset for clarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
xvi
8.8 Innite-persistence 10 Gb/s sampling oscilloscope traces (20 ps/div.): (a) RZ-
OOK pump, (b) Converted probe (+0.6 nm lter-probe detuning) (c) inverted
eye diagram due to XAM (0 nm lter-probe detuning). Receiver power PRX
= 1 µW, for (a) and (b), and PRX = 100 µW for (c). The average pump
power was ∼ 16 dBm for all eye diagrams. The artifact in the ZERO rails is
ascribed to the sampling module's RF response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8.9 Autocorrelation traces: The baseline RZ-OOK pump was measured at the
output of the transmitter, whereas the probe was measured before the detector
in Fig. 8.3. No shape factor was applied to the above traces. . . . . . . . . . 138
8.10 Receiver Sensitivity BER penalty is < 1 dB for the converted probe compared
to the baseline RZ-OOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.11 Eect of probe detuning on receiver sensitivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.12 Output spectrum generated through numerical modeling, accounting for both
Kerr and TPA eects. Clear asymmetric spectral broadening can be seen in
agreement with the experimental results (Fig. 8.5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8.13 Contributions to spectral broadening: (a) degenerate TPA and FCA/FCD (b)
non-degenerate TPA and FCD/FCA, (c) the combined result of all free-carrier
eects and (d) the Kerr-eect. The accumulative eect of all broadening
mechanisms is shown in Fig. 8.12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
8.14 Contributions to spectral broadening, extension of Fig. 8.13 showing detailed
spectral features. Insets show spectral regions near the respective optical
carriers for the pump (±2.5 nm) and the probe (±0.2 nm), in order to highlight
spectral asymmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
xvii
8.15 Theoretically generated eye diagrams for (a) the input signal, (b) the out-
put signal, and (c) the XAM-encoded signal on the probe carrier. Clear eye
diagrams are found, indicating successful transfer of the data to a new wave-
length. Pattern dependence can be observed in the XAM eye due to free
carrier induced pattern-dependence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.16 Eye diagrams generated by applying the detuned XPM-WC lter to spectra
outlined in Fig. 8.13. All broadening mechanisms lead to data WC, however
the strength of the received signal is highly dependent on the degree of spectral
broadening. The legend lists eects from highest to lowest received voltage. . 148
8.17 Comparison of the characteristics of the ideal lter (black trace) with those
of the experimental (non-ideal) lter (red trace). (a) Amplitude response (b)
Phase response (c) Group delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.18 AWG ltering scheme for six-way RZ-OOK XPM-multicasting. . . . . . . . . 151
8.19 Normalized eye-diagrams constructed from the utilized AWG channels (Fig.
8.18) in the six-way XPM-multicasting method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
8.20 Normalized average optical power after conversion for the utilized AWG (Fig.
8.18) channels in the six-way multicasting method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.21 Principle of XPM-FC. A 10 GHz pulse-train is used as the pump, while the
probe carries a 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK quasi-CW signal. The pump then induces
chirp on the probe when the probe carries a ONE-bit, which is converter to
amplitude modulation by a detuned lter. In this way, the NRZ-OOK pump
is carved by the 10 GHz pulse train, converting NRZ-OOK into RZ-OOK. . 155
xviii
8.22 Set-up for NRZ-to-RZ-OOK XPM-FC: PPG=pulsed-pattern generator, PRBS=Pseudo-
random bit sequence, MLLD=mode-locked laser diode, VDL=variable delay
line, HPA=high-power amplier, PC=polarization controller, LTF=lensed ta-
pered ber, FBG=ber Bragg grating, OBPF=optical band-pass lter, VOA=variable
optical attenuator, ISO=optical isolator, PRX=receiver power, LNF=low-
noise gure, , CR=clock recovery, TIA=transimpedance amplier, ED=error
detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.23 (a) 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK eye diagram. (b) Format converted 10 Gb/s RZ-OOK
eye diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.24 (a) Output probe spectrum and ltering (b) BER receiver sensitivity mea-
surements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.25 (a) 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK eye diagram, modeling result. (b) Format converted
10 Gb/s RZ-OOK eye diagram, modeling result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
8.26 (a) numerically determined output probe spectrum and ltering. (b) eye-
diagram determined from modeling format conversion of 160 Gb/s data, demon-
strating the feasibility of transparent format conversion at data rates beyond
160 Gb/s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.1 Illustration showing simultaneous multiplexing of M wavelengths and N modes at
bandwidth B for N × M × B MDM-WDM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
9.2 (a) Illustration of mode mux/demux using asymmetric Y-junctions. For a 1 µm
wide waveguide at λ = 1550 nm, Ey component of: (b) rst even QTM mode,
ne,e = 2.20, ng,e = 4.44. (c) rst odd QTM mode, ne,o = 1.90, ng,o = 4.70. (d)
SEM image showing fabricated device with θ = 1◦ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
xix
9.3 (a) Measured Pt and Px for −3 dBm input when Arm A or Arm B is excited, and
the measured output of a straight 550 nm wide waveguide. (b) Measured crosstalk
and estimated receiver sensitivity power penalties from Eq. (9.2). Dotted red line
indicates modeling result. Insets: outputs of arm-C and arm-D captured at the
endfacet of the cleaved chip by an infrared camera, for −23 dBm input to Arm A,
demonstrating dierence in crosstalk at dierent operating wavelengths. . . . . . . 167
9.4 Measured and theoretical crosstalk for LMM = 100 µm and (a) θ = 3◦ (b) θ = 6◦
(c) θ = 9◦ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
9.5 Measured and theoretical crosstalk for θ = 1◦ and (a) LMM = 300 µm (b) LMM =
600 µm (c) LMM = 900 µm (d) LMM = 1.2 mm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.6 (a) Illustration of mode mux/demux using asymmetric Y-junctions. For a 1 µm wide
waveguide at λ = 1550 nm, Ey component of: (b) fundamental QTM mode of Arm
1, (c) fundamental QTM mode of Arm 2 (d) rst even QTM mode of multimode
interconnect (e) rst odd mode of multimode interconnect. . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
9.7 (a) Spectral response of the crosstalk port, Arm 4 (Arm 3) in the demux for launch-
ing into Arm 1 (Arm 2) of the mux. Low crosstalk dips are observed at specic
wavelengths, which are chosen for MDM and MDM-WDM demonstrations with low
power penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
9.8 (a) Schematic showing muxing and demuxing of dierent MDM channels. Top view
of IR camera for (b) CH1 ON CH2 OFF, (c) CH1 OFF CH2 ON, and (d) both
MDM channels ON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
xx
9.9 Experimental diagram: BERT = bit-error-rate-tested, LA = limiting amplier, PC
= polarization controller, TL = tunable laser, PPG = pulsed-pattern-generator,
EDFA = erbium doped ber amplier, ISO = isolator, P = position, S = switch,
PS = polarization splitter, PM = power meter, PROFA = pitch-reducing optical
ber array, LTF = lensed-tapered-ber, BPF = bandpass lter, VOA = variable
optical attenuator, DCA = digital communications analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.10 BER curves showing the back-to-back (B2B) bypassing the chip, MDM CH1 and
CH2 demuxed individually, and MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed simultaneously for
λ = (a) 1535 nm (b) 1543 nm, (c) 1551 nm (d) 1561 nm (e) 1570 nm, and the
corresponding eye diagrams. Together, these BER plots show 2 × 10 Gb/s MDM
(20 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) at 5 dierent wavelengths. The two MDM channels
have a measured 10−9 BER penalty (MDM CH1 PP/MDM CH2 PP) of 0.60 dB/0.70
dB, 0.40 dB/0.50 dB, 0.70 dB/0.70 dB, 0.20 dB/0.10 dB, and 0.30 dB/0.40 dB for
λ = 1535 nm, 1543 nm, 1551 nm, 1561 nm, and 1570 nm respectively, as listed in
Table 9.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
9.11 BER curves showing B2B bypassing the chip, MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed indi-
vidually, and MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed simultaneously, and for simultaneously
demuxing WDM λ = (a) 1543 nm (b) 1551 nm, (c) 1561 nm, and the corresponding
eye diagrams. Taken together, these BER plots demonstrates 2×3×10 Gb/s MDM-
WDM (60 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) using 2 modal channels, and 6 wavelength
channels all at 10 Gb/s, with measured power penalties of the 6 multiplexed data
channels of only 0.70 dB, 0.60 dB, 0.70 dB, 0.70 dB, 0.10 dB, and 0.10 dB as shown
in Table 9.4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
xxi
List of Tables
7.1 Grating periodicities and weights used to for the grating prole plotted in
Fig. 7.13. The table also shows the idler and signal wavelengths targeted
by each periodicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
9.1 MDM: Measured demuxed power levels for each wavelength channel,
through each of the two arms of the MDM demux: PAC , PAD , PBD , PBC ,
PAD , and PBC represent demultiplexed crosstalk at the receiver. Crosstalk

imbalance resulting from insertion loss imbalance is equalized by nding
∆P and using Eq. (9.10). The balanced XT after equalization is given by
the column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
9.2 2 × 10 Gb/s MDM (20 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) PP's: Measured 10−9
BER PP for both MDM channels at 5 dierent wavelengths. Expected
PP column shows the expected penalty from using the XT numbers from
Table 9.1 in conjunction with Eq. (9.2). Measured PP values are ex-
tracted from complementary error-function tting of experimental data
points as shown in Fig. 9.10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
xxii
9.3 MDM-WDM: Measured demuxed power levels for each wavelength chan-
nel, through each of the two arms of the MDM demux: PAC , PAD , PBD ,
PBC , PAD , and PBC represent demultiplexed crosstalk at the receiver.

Crosstalk imbalance resulting from insertion loss imbalance is equalized
by nding ∆P and using Eq. (9.10). The balanced XT after equalization
is given by the column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.4 Measured 10−9 BER PP for all 6 MDM-WDM channels. Expected PP
column shows the expected penalty from using the XT numbers from Ta-
ble 9.3 in conjunction with Eq. (9.2). Measured PP values are extracted
from complementary error-function tting of experimental data points
as shown in Fig. 9.11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
xxiii
Acknowledgments
This thesis represents a personal milestone, but also the fruit of a collective eort by a huge
number of people who have taught me, inspired me, and supported me. I couldn't possibly
thank everyone who has helped me get to where I am today, but below is a partial list.
Firstly, I would like to thank my research advisor, Professor Richard Osgood. I will
always be deeply grateful he took a chance on a kid from a small school in the middle of
nowhere. For all my years at Columbia, Professor Osgood provided me with tremendous
support and guidance. His enthusiasm for research, for science, for history, and for the world
in general, serves as great inspiration. I believe that the research environment he created
within his lab allowed me to grow substantially both as a person and as a scientist, and I
look forward to continued guidance as I transition from student to professional.
Many long days and long nights were spent at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at
Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, working to make straight lines straighter.
The end result would not have been possible without the strong group of scientists at the
CFN. I would especially like to thank Dr. Aaron Stein, Dr. Ming Lu, Dr. Fernando
Camino, Dr. Don Elliott, and Dr. Abdel Isakovic, all of whom were superheroes at times
when equipment went down, or when the right advice was needed to get over a hump.
I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from a talented group of collaborators.
I would like to thank Dr. Yurii Vlasov and Dr. William Green from IBM T. J. Watson
xxiv
Research Center, for providing an opportunity to collaborate on some applied nonlinear
optics ideas with IBM Si waveguides, and for valuable research advice. I would also like to
thank Professor Gary Carter and Dr. William Astar from for the University of Maryland
Baltimore County and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, for opening their lab to us. I
would especially like to thank William Astar, whose tireless work-eort in the lab served as
inspiration, and who taught me many of my rst lessons in system-level experiments and
characterization.
I would also like to thank Professor Keren Bergman, for opening up her lab to me, and
for the guidance of her graduate students. I had an opportunity to collaborate directly with
Noam Ophir, Christine Chen, and Kishore Padmaraju, all of whom were pleasures to work
with. I have also bounced a lot of ideas o her group members, looked to them for insight, or
simply looked to borrow equipment. Many have become close friends. I would especially like
to thank Aleksandr Biberman, Daniel Brunina, Johnnie Chan, Cathy Chen, Christine Chen,
Ajay Garg, Gilbert Hendry, Robert Hendry, Caroline Lai, Ben Lee, Noam Ophir, Kishore
Padmaraju, Howard Wang, Michael Wang, and Lee Zhu. I will deeply miss weekly poker.
I would like to thank all of the graduate students and scientists that I worked alongside in
Professor Osgood's lab. To them, I looked towards for insight, friendship, camaraderie, and
coee breaks. One of the advantages of going to a school like Columbia is the opportunity to
surround yourself with exceptional people, and association with my fellow labmates made me
stronger both academically and personally. I would especially like to thank Dr. Lina Cao, Dr.
Alex Chen, Dr. Xiaogang Chen, Dr. Jerry Dadap, Dr. Ophir Gaathon, Richard Grote, Dr.
I-Wei Hsieh, Stan Huang, Wencan Jin, Dr. Kevin Knox, Ron Lidor, Professor Xiaoping Liu,
Alex Meng, Jake Mower, Dr. Avishai Ofan, Professor Nicolae Panoiu, Dr. Denis Potapenko,
Lt. Col. Brian Souhan, Gary Walsh, Saam Yasseri, Po-Chun Yeh, Dr. Sung Young, and Dr.
xxv
Nader Zaki. Thank you Svitlana Samoilina, for keeping us all organized.
I would especially like to extend my appreciation to the fellow members of the Si photonics
team, including Andy Hsieh, who was a great mentor when I joined the group and who
introduced me to Si waveguide fabrication, Oliver Chen, who created a powerful foundation
in nonlinear Si photonics modeling that I extended for my own work, Xiaoping Liu, who I
enjoyed talking with about how things actually work, who taught me to crab sh, and who
has one of the sharpest minds I've come across, Brian Souhan, for keeping up the momentum
on Si photonics fabrication, Professor Nicolae Panoiu, who has been a great mentor and who
derived much of the original physics used for modeling nonlinear photonics in Si waveguides,
Dr. Jerry Dadap, who was a great help in the lab and an excellent person to run ideas
and papers across, and Richard Grote, who shared in many of same adventures and whose
friendship kept me sane and entertained.
During my student internship at Intel, I had an opportunity to work alongside many
world class individuals. I learned more about the future of Si photonics during my time at
Intel than my previous years combined. I would especially like to thank Roshan George, who
was the best mentor I could have asked for and who took great interest in helping me succeed
to the best of my abilities. I would also like to thank Ling Liao for being a tremendous leader,
and her willingness to give me real responsibility within her team. Thank you, Sidra Farid,
for being a great lab partner and friend, and for encouraging me to start writing this thesis
well before I would have otherwise. I would also like to thank Ling Liao and Mario Paniccia
for giving me an opportunity to join their very talented group after graduation; I am proud
to play a role in helping dene the next generation of Si photonic devices.
I would like to thank the hundreds of educators that taught me and inspired me, all of
whom have a signicant part in who I am today. I would especially like to thank Ned Burdick,
xxvi
whose enthusiasm for physics inspired me to go into engineering, Cli Chapman, who showed
me what sustained excellence looks like, and Kenwyn Chock, who taught me about discipline
and work ethic. I would like to thank all of the Professors who taught me so much during my
time at Michigan Tech and Columbia, especially Professors Ashok Ambardar, Christopher
Cischke, Michael Roggemann, Timothy Schulz, David Stone, Dennis Lewandowski, and Brian
Fick from Michigan Tech, and Professors Keren Bergman, Paul Diament, Dan Ellis, Tony
Heinz, John Kymissis, Richard Osgood Jr., Amiya Sen, David Vallancourt, Wen Wang, Chee
Wei Wong, Brian Greene, Lorenzo Polvani, and Latha Venkataraman from Columbia.
Thank you Justin Rhein and Joe Cowdery for your close friendship during my time at
Michigan Tech, and afterwards.
I would like to thank Professor Anand Gopinath at the University of Minnesota, who
welcomed me into his lab for a summer REU, and who was the rst to introduce me to
integrated photonics. It was in his group that I solidied my interest in research and my
interest in Si photonics. He provided me a unique opportunity to work independently as an
undergraduate in a class-10 cleanroom fabricating waveguides and doing process develop-
ment. I don't know where I would be today without the experience he created for me and
the guidance he provided.
I would like the thank my entire dodgeball team. Getting out of the lab and playing once
a week, and your friendship, helped keep me going.
I would like to thank my thesis committee members, Professor Richard Osgood, Professor
Tony Heinz, Professor Keren Bergman, Professor John Kymissis, and Dr. Aaron Stein, for
their valuable time and support.
Finally I would like to thank my family, and dedicate this thesis to them. Especially to
my mom for her warmth, and for truly believing in me more than anyone else. To my dad,
xxvii
for showing me the importance of education, for asking questions about why the world is
the way it is, and for being there when I need him most. To my sister, Karlie, for always
believing in her big brother and being there for me and for the family; I believe in you, too.
To the Setos, for their years of support. To Stephanie, who has been there for me during this
whole journey; I am excited for our journey yet to come. She is my rock, and has provided
just the right combination of love, encouragement, and motivation when I needed it. I would
be less, without her.
Thank you.
xxviii
To My Family.
xxix
"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all
kinds of things you can't see from the center."
Kurt Vonnegut
xxx
1 Introduction
1.1 Photonics: A Disruptive Technology

The displacement of electronic technologies with photonic technologies has liberated data
communication over the past 40 years, especially in regards to reach, bandwidth, energy
eciency, cost eciency, and network architecture. This fundamental shift has spurred the
development of a tremendous global communications infrastructure, and acted as a catalyst
from which the information age emerged.
Optical communications, in the contemporary sense, began with the replacement of tele-
phone lines (electric interconnects) in the late 1970's with ber optic cables (optical inter-
connects), only a couple of decades removed from the rst demonstration of the laser in 1960.
Today that trend remains as optics continues to displace electronics, however increasingly
so on the nanoscale.
The fundamental limitation of modulated signals in electric interconnects originates from
parasitic eects that arise when electromagnetic waves propagate along a conductor such as a
copper wire, including excess attenuation over long distances, and capacitance which drives
down available modulation bandwidth by the RC time constant. Optical signals, on the
other hand, can propagate km's through ultrapure transparent single-mode Silica bers with
much less than 1 dB attenuation and do not contend with capacitance.
Since optical solutions rst started to supplant electrical solutions for long-haul links,
1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 2
photonics researchers and engineers have targeted shorter and shorter length scales. Quickly,
ber started to dominate local-area-networks (LANs) and metropolitian-area-networks (MANs)
[3]. Fiber is now penetrating broadband access networks such as ber-to-the-home [4, 5],
and more recently, the data center [6, 5] including rack-to-rack.
The ultimate extrapolation of the trend towards optics at shorter length scales points
to chip-scale photonics and optics near the CPU. It is envisioned that optical waveguides
can replace on-chip metallic traces while providing substantially more bandwidth at lower
energies. Solutions near the CPU that deliver on high aggregate bandwidth are essential since
computational performance gains are currently driven by an increased number of processing
cores as opposed to clock-frequency-scaling [7, 8, 9]. This shift towards parallel computing
has placed a considerable emphasis on ecient and high-capacity on-chip communication
networks to manage information exchange between multiple cores, and the capacity limit of
metallic wires will soon be reached.
Until now, ber has been at the core of the shift to photonics, however chip-based op-
tical solutions require chip-scale waveguides, making large ber optic cables incompatible.
Instead, the photonic analogue of the integrated circuit (IC), the photonic integrated circuit
(PIC), is needed to allow the guiding and manipulation of light in an integrated form-factor.
Many dierent material combinations have been explored including InP [10, 11, 12], LiNbO3
[13], GaAs [14, 15, 16, 17] and other thin lms [18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]; however each of
these material systems are met with dicult fabrication challenges [26], are relatively high
cost compared to today's low cost Si ICs, and are dicult to integrate with electronics.
Instead, photonic waveguides and components made of Si are being heavily researched,
motivated by the manufacturing advantage of leveraging the immense and mature Si comple-
mentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication infrastructure, and the prospect of

marrying Si photonics and Si electronics on the same die. Silicon photonics has seen tremen-
dous growth over the past decade, and already, companies such as Kotura (recently acquired
by Mellanox), Luxtera, Molex, Aurrion, Lightwire (recently acquired by CISCO), IBM, and
Intel are starting to announce transceiver products for the data-center built on Si photonics
platforms. In light of the trend towards Si, Si photonic foundries such as OpSIS and ePIXfab
are taking hold, allowing companies and researchers to design Si photonic systems without
the burden of an in-house fab.
Although heavily motivated by the potential for high-capacity links, it is being revealed
that the unique physics of Si waveguides, as discussed throughout this thesis, allows Si pho-
tonics to be more than just a study of interconnects. Instead, Si photonic technologies are
being developed that address sensing, spectroscopy, elecro-optic devices such as modulators
switches and detectors, labs-on-a-chip, systems for quantum computing, and nonlinear de-
vices for data manipulation and wavelength conversion. In fact, in the ultimate displacement
of electrons with photons, researchers are revealing that sub-wavelength Si waveguides can
serve as a guided medium by which all-optical control of optical signals can be realized,
allowing light to control light. No matter the application, detailed study has revealed a rich
physics within Si Photonics.
1.2 Challenges with SOI as a Photonics Platform

It is not immediately obvious that Si is a desirable material for integrated optics. In fact
many of its properties suggest Si to be a poor optical material.
1. Si has an indirect bandgap, making stimulated emission extremely inecient and laser
action impractical.
2. Si has a crystalline structure that exhibits inversion symmetry and therefore results in
no second order (Pockels) nonlinearity. This eliminates the electro-optic eect com-
monly used for electro-optic devices such as modulators.
3. Si has signicant two-photon-absorption near telecom wavelengths reducing the e-
ciency of third-order (Kerr) nonlinear processes.
4. Si has no clear path towards making an integrated detector due to Si's transparency
at telecom wavelengths.
Despite challenges with fabricating sources, detectors, and eletro-optic devices, the selection
of the SOI platform has some compelling advantages.
1. An immense semiconductor fabrication infrastructure already exists for processing Si,
and decades of research have rened nanoscale Si fabrication. This signicantly drives
down the cost of Si photonics and provides a head start on process development.
2. Integrated circuits are mostly Si based, suggesting the potential for the monolithic
integration of electric and photonic devices on the same die.
3. Si has a high index of refraction (n) compared to typical claddings, allowing high-index-
contrast and tight optical connement in waveguides with sub-wavelength dimensions.
This makes dense packing and and tight (10's of µm) bending radii practical.
4. From the perspective of nonlinear devices, driven by a large χ(3) compared to ber optic
cables and tight optical connement resulting in high optical intensities, Si waveguides
can have an eective nonlinearity that is almost 106 times that of ber. Thus, nonlinear
optical devices realized in km's of ber can be achieved in a Si waveguide only mm's
long.
In the end, fabrication and material cost, packing density, as well as the potential for com-
plete integration of electronics and photonics, have motivated researchers to study the SOI
platform in an eort to ameliorate the disadvantages to a degree that makes Si PICs feasible.
1.3 Silicon Photonics: Enabling Technologies for the SOI

Platform
1.3.1 Si Photonic Sources

Today, the prohibitive problems with SOI as a photonics platform have convincing engi-
neering solutions. Practical electrically-pumped laser sources are realized through a variety
of strategies. One is to use an o-chip laser source, termed an optical power supply, and
couple the light on-chip with mode-converters [27] or grating couplers [28]. This has many
similarities to electrical power supplies, where an external unit couples power to an IC in-
stead of integrating a power supply on the same die as the electronics. Another solution
is to use hybrid lasers formed by thin-lm bonding or epitaxial methods to append a gain
medium [29], such as InP [30], GaAs [31], AlGaInAs quantum wells [32], or strained Ge [33],
to Si waveguide cavities such that the evanescent eld of the guided modes interact with
the gain medium allowing for stimulated emission. There have even been demonstrations
of rare-earth doping of Si, SiO2 , or Si3 N4 layers to introduce gain into Si waveguides more
directly [34, 35].

1.3.2 Si Photonic Detectors

The detector problem has been approached in much the same way as the laser source problem,
where materials have been bonded or grown epitaxially on Si waveguides in order to introduce
an absorber, such as AsGaInAs quantum wells [36]. The most common hybrid approach for
an integrated Si waveguide photodector, relies on introducing Ge thin-lms as an absorption
medium [37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47], where again the evanescent tail of the
waveguide mode can overlap with the absorber, resulting in a photocurrent under bias.
Extremely high-quality Ge-based detectors have been realized, including detectors with > 40
GHz bandwidths [43, 38, 39] and avalanche-photodiodes with > 340 GHz gain-bandwidth
products [47].
At the same time, there are disadvantages to using Ge photodetectors. Ge integration
typically requires a large number of expensive fabrication steps, including annealing steps to
reduce impurities and to reduce dark current, which are commonly performed on the back-
end [46] and which can stress the thermal budget of the overall fabrication process. Instead
of an extrinsic approach of introducing thin lm absorbers to interact with the evanescent
tail of the waveguide mode, an intrinsic approach where absorption is induced in the Si
waveguide itself has some distinct advantages. Some examples of intrinsic approaches include
internal photoemission PDs utilizing a Si-waveguide-Schottky contact [48, 49], surface-state
absorption in both crystalline [50] and deposited poly-Si PDs [51], and PDs that utilize sub-
bandgap-defect-state absorption via ion implantation of the Si waveguide [52, 53, 54, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67]. Si+ ion-implantation is particularly interesting since
it is fully CMOS compatible, does not require high temperature processing, and can feature
detectors with responsitivities that are comparable to Ge based solutions, at the expense of
a larger footprint.
1.3.3 Electro-Optic Control for Si Photonics

In terms of a method for electro-optic control in Si, Si has no χ(2) nonlinearity, and there-
fore no direct electro-optic eect. However, as described rst by Soref in the late 1980's,
free-carrier injection and depletion can be used a new type of electro-optic eect in Si. The
general premise is that the free-carrier density and distribution within a silicon waveguide can
be controlled with electric elds, such as building the waveguide within a p-n or p-i-n diode.
Free-carriers alter the index of refraction of Si through free-carrier-dispersion, and thus can
be used to adjust the phase of modes propagating along Si waveguides. This approach eas-
ily allows free-carrier-based phase controllers to be included within arms of Mach-Zehnder
interferometers (MZIs) or along the waveguide paths of ring resonators to convert phase
modulation to amplitude modulation, realizing the basic principle of electro-optic modula-
tion. The rst modulator-like device, a 2 × 2 electro-optic switch, was demonstrated by
Lorenzo and Soref in 1987 [1] using free-carrier injection. Since then, modulators have be-
come increasing fast and increasingly ecient.
1.3.4 Si Photonic Modulators

The rst modulator that operated at bandwidths > 1 GHz was demonstrated in 2004 by Liu
et al. from Intel [68], and marked a turning point for the eld of Si photonics, where it was
realized that compact Si waveguides and devices on the SOI platform were compatible with
emerging state-of-the-art modulation rates. This particular device worked not by carrier
injection or depletion in a p-n junction, but through a capacitive eect where the carrier
density was redistributed with an applied bias, altering the overlap between the guided
mode and carrier population thereby modulating the eective index of the guided mode.
The phase modulation was then converted to amplitude modulation in an MZI. In 2005,
Liao et al., also from Intel, demonstrated an MZI modulator using the same principle but
with an improved design that operated at > 10 GHz [69]. Shortly thereafter, in 2007, Liao
et al. demonstrated a > 40 Gb/s modulator based on carrier depletion in a p-n diode.
Today, modulator research continues [70] and performance in terms of modulation rate,
modulation depth, and energy eciency, continues to be rened. Examples include ring-
resonator-based modulators [71, 72, 73, 74], modulators based on photonic crystals [75, 76,
77], and even depletion-mode modulators operating at > 50 Gb/s [78].
Another solution for high-speed modulation, is to use electro-absorption modulation [79,
80, 81, 82, 83] using strained Ge/Si [83], Ge/GeSi [82] multiple quantum wells, or III/IV
integration [79]. In all cases, the general principle is based on the quantum conned Stark
eect, where altering the electric eld distribution within an absorber, for example by using
a p-n diode, shifts the band-edge of the material and therefore the magnitude of absorption
at a given wavelength. In this way, the optical signal can be switched ON and OFF with
the applied bias, creating an amplitude modulator.
1.3.5 A Toolbox of Si Photonic Devices

Beyond lasers, detectors, and modulators, substantial research has yielded a bounty of
integrated optical devices, including compact waveguide bends [84], arrayed-waveguide-
gratings [85, 86], grating couplers [87, 88, 89], Bragg gratings [90, 91, 92, 93], echelle
gratings [94, 95, 96], spot-size converters [97, 27, 98, 99], star couplers [100], crossings
[101, 102, 103], ring-resonators [104, 105], photonic crystals [106, 107], Fabrey-Pérot cav-
ities [108, 109, 110, 111], Y-junctions [112, 113], devices based on coherent perfect absorp-
tion and loss [114, 115], and switches [116, 117]. Substantial work has even been done on
sensors based on Si waveguides, waveguide devices, and other integrated optical appraoches
[118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128]. Combined, engineers are now equipped
with a tremendous toolbox of integrated photonic devices rened over many decades of re-
search, and are nally positioned to bring the rst generation of commercial optical Si
photonic systems to market and solidify Si photonics on the SOI platform as the leading
solution for photonics-on-a-chip. As such, it is vital to develop a deep understanding of the
underlying physics enabling and limiting current Si designs. As integrated photonics barrels
ahead, as discussed in this thesis, it is of great importance to get a sense for the physical
properties and eects which can be leveraged in future generations of PICs, including PICs
which aren't just photonic analogues of electronic systems, but entirely new systems that do
things in an integrated fashion that electronics can't begin to approach.
1.4 Si Photonics for Nonlinear Optics

While generally the aim is to limit nonlinear optical eects when using Si waveguides as
interconnects and linear electro-optic devices due the distortion, crosstalk, and limiting ef-
fects inherent to nonlinear processes, the nonlinearities present in Si oer the potential for
complete all-optical control of guided light. Such a realization allows the ability to control
photons with photons, and further eliminate the need for optical-to-electrical-to-optical con-
version in many applications. Furthermore, the Kerr nonlinearity of Si is ultra-fast (∼ 1 fs),
meaning that nonlinear processes are virtually modulation-rate insensitive and eectively in-
stantaneous compared to foreseeable modulation frequencies. If nonlinearities are embraced,
it turns out that Si waveguides can be engineered to operate as a powerful nonlinear medium
[129], revealing a whole new set of applications for Si photonics.
Silicon has some very favorable nonlinear properties which makes it an attractive plat-
form for performing nonlinear optics and engineering integrated nonlinear photonic devices.
Intrinsically, Si has a large third-order nonlinear susceptibility, and its nonlinear index, n2 , is
∼ 4×10−14 cm2 /W. In comparison to standard single-mode silica bers with n2 of ∼ 2×10−16
cm2 /W, Si has a a factor of ∼ ×100 larger Kerr nonlinearity. However the eective nonlin-
earity of Si waveguides can be even higher, a direct result of high-index-contrast and tightly
conned guided modes. Tight connement results in optical modes that are conned to a
small waveguide area, thereby driving up the optical intensities in the waveguide for a given
optical power. Silica single-mode bers have an index contrast (∆n ∼ 0.01), more than two
orders of magnitude smaller than that of waveguides on the SOI platform (∆n ∼ 2 2.5).
Therefore, eective areas of guided modes in Si waveguides (∼ 0.1 µm2 ) are substantially
smaller than guided modes in standard ber (∼ 100 µm2 ) resulting in optical intensities
that are a factor of ∼ 1000× larger in Si waveguides compared to ber optic cables for the
same launch power! Finally, Si waveguides are highly dispersive, again a consequence of
high-index-contrast and tight optical connement. First order dispersion, β1 , is found by
taking the derivative of the propagation constant, β = 2πne /λ, with respect to angular
frequency ω ,
∂β
β1 = . (1.1)
∂ω
One consequence of dispersion is a reduced group velocity, vg , since vg = β1−1 . The group
velocity can be expressed in terms of a group index, Ng where vg = c/Ng with c the speed of
light in free space. Typical values for Ng of of modes guided by single-mode Si waveguides
are between 3.5 and 5, compared to ber where Ng is on the order of ne , or around 1.6. A
large group index slows modes down and increases interaction time between the mode and
the nonlinear medium, causing a stronger eective nonlinearity, γ . In fact, γ ∝ Ng2 in a
process called slow-light-enhancement (SLE).
Combined, in comparison to ber, the larger n2 of Si waveguides, higher optical intensities
for the same launch power, and SLE results in an eective nonlinearity, γ , that is almost 106
times larger. Typical values of γber are ∼ 1×10−3 W−1 m−1 and typical values of γSiWG are ∼
300 W−1 m−1 . To get a sense of the benets of such a large γSiWG , consider the characteristic
nonlinear length of a material, LNL ,
LNL = 1/(γP ), (1.2)
which is ∝−1 to γ . Comparing LNL,ber to LNL,SiWG , for a given power, LNL,SiWG /LNL,SiWG ≈
3 × 10−6 , and the same nonlinear eects that can be observed in km's of ber can be
realized Si waveguides only mm's long. From the perspective of nonlinear devices, the
reduced nonlinear length achievable in Si waveguides leads to the concept of "ber-on-a-
chip," meaning that nonlinear interactions observed in km-long nonlinear ber optic cables
can instead be observed in waveguides on a single integrated Si chip.
At the same time, there are some inherent disadvantages of Si waveguides as a nonlinear
platform. One is two-photon-absorption (TPA). The bandgap of Si is ∼ 1.11 eV, meaning
that at telecom wavelengths, two photons have enough energy to promote a free-carrier via
simultaneous absorption, resulting in an increase in the carrier density along with a decrease
in the propagating optical power as two photons are annihilated. Free-carriers themselves
change the Si index of refraction via the free-carrier plasma dispersion (FCD) eect, while
also introducing additional loss, free-carrier-absorption (FCA), as demanded by Kramers-
Krönig.
The free-carrier lifetime is relatively long in crystalline Si, and in Si waveguides, it is
related to the carrier transit time to the waveguide sidewall where surface recombination can
occur. Typically for channel waveguides, the free-carrier-lifetime is on the order of 0.5 ns
3 ns, and gets longer as the waveguide's cross-section increases. This means that despite the
ultra-fast nature of Si's Kerr nonlinearity and the relatively large value of γ , the eciency of
some nonlinear processes can be limited by the combination of TPA and resulting FCA, and
the response time in some cases takes on the carrier lifetime instead of the response time of
the ultrafast Kerr eect.
It is possible to reduce the free-carrier-lifetime by building the waveguide into a reverse-
biased p-n junction to sweep away free carriers [130], or by introducing impurities through
ion-implantation to increase the rate of recombination [131, 132]. TPA can also be eliminated
by going to long enough wavelengths, λ > 2.2 µm, where two photons no longer have enough
combined energy to excite a carrier above the bandgap. This has motived substantial research
on Si photonics in the mid-IR, where TPA vanishes and Si becomes an nearly ideal nonlinear
medium [133, 134]. It has also given Si photonics a role in mid-IR applications such as free-
space communication and molecular spectroscopy, and researchers and quickly starting to
iron out the details
In a linear sense, Si waveguides have the added challenge that again due to high-index-
contrast and tight optical connement, waveguide dispersion can overcome material disper-
sion and dominate the total dispersion experienced by a guided mode. This can aect the
bandwidth of phase-matched nonlinear processes such as four-wave-mixing (FWM). However
it also introduces a new degree of freedom, where researchers can tailor the dispersion by
engineering waveguide geometry, in order to get a total dispersion most advantageous for a
specic application [135, 136, 137]. For example, anomalous dispersion has been shown to
be valuable for ultra-broad supercontinuum generation [138] and optical soliton generation
[139], while for FWM, pumping at the zero-dispersion-wavelength (ZDWL) results in the
most ecient and broadband wavelength conversion [140]. It is even being discovered that
varying the dispersion continuously or periodically along the propagation direction of the
waveguide can be used as a new means for engineering nonlinear interactions. Quasi-phase-
mated (QPM) FWM has been demonstrated by periodically modulating the waveguide width
[141] (the rst demonstration of which will be described in Ch. 7), and parabolic similariton
generation has been proposed in tapered Si waveguides [142].
Already, researchers have demonstrated a diverse collection of nonlinear processes, includ-
ing cross-phase-modulation (XPM) [143], self-phase-modulation (SPM) [144], wavelength
conversion based on FWM [145] QPM FWM [146, 147, 148, 149] and XPM [150, 151],
wavelength translation between the telecom bands and mid-IR [152], modulation format
conversion [153, 154, 155, 156], signal regeneration [157], all-optical switching [158, 116],
supercontinuum sources [159, 160, 138], frequency combs [161, 162, 163, 145], soliton genera-
tion [139, 160, 164, 165, 166], third-harmonic-generation [167], optical parametric ampliers
[168, 169], Raman gain [170, 171], self steepening [172], optically pumped Raman lasers
[173, 174, 175], Kerr gratings [176, 177], inverse-Raman-scattering [178], Brillouin scattering
[179], similariton generation [142, 142], and optical time lensing [180].
With such a large collection of demonstrated all-optical nonlinear processes on the SOI
platform using Si photonic waveguides, along with the mature toolbox of linear and electro-
optic Si photonic components outlined in Sec. 1.3, the eld of Si photonics is truly ready for
advanced integration, and is at the cusp of incredibly unique and advanced devices, systems,
and products.
1.5 Scope of this Thesis

This thesis will explore the unique linear optical properties of Si waveguide for on-chip inter-
connects and chip-based applications, and also the unique nonlinear properties which allow Si
waveguides to be used as the foundation for all-optical active devices for data manipulation.
Specically, all-optical solutions for wavelength conversion and modulation format conver-
sion could help re-think the cross-connect in the sense that data manipulation tasks may be
possible in the optical domain without the need for detect and re-transmit approaches. Non-
linear Si photonic devices may even serve as standalone modules enabling new applications
in spectroscopy and free-space communication by translating signals between vastly dierent
spectral regions including the mid-IR and telecom.
Silicon waveguide fabrication techniques will be introduced (Ch. 2), as well as modeling
methods for understanding a variety of χ(3) nonlinear eects (Ch. 3). Unique properties of
Si waveguides will be introduced, including large longitudinal electric elds (Ch. 4) and con-
sequences of Si's anisotropic nonlinearity (Ch. 6). Waveguide geometry has a strong eect
on many waveguide properties, including eective nonlinearity as outlined in Ch. 5. A new
technique for increasing the conversion eciency and spectral span of discrete FWM using
QPM is described (Ch. 7), including using the anisotropic nonlinearity of Si and waveguides
oriented along circular trajectories, and fabricating waveguides with modulated sidewalls to
periodically control dispersion. XPM is shown to be a viable process for all-optical data
manipulation applications including transparent all-optical wavelength dispersion and mod-
ulation format conversion (Ch. 8). Finally, a simple solution for on-chip mode multiplexing
and demultiplexing for mode-division-multiplexing (MDM) is shown based on asymmet-
ric Y-junctions, and simultaneous MDM and wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) is
demonstrated (Ch. 9).
In aggregate, these explorations reveal a substantial range of devices and applications
enabled by the fundamental physics of Si photonics, and show a path towards future plat-
forms where on-chip control, or even all-optical control is leveraged for low-cost, low-energy,
integrated photonic devices.

2 Silicon Waveguide Fabrication
2.1 Fabrication Techniques

Silicon waveguides are typically fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform [Fig.
2.1(a)] with dimensions that are smaller than telecom wavelengths (λ = 1.55 µm) in free-
space [Fig. 2.1(b)]. As will become a common theme throughout this thesis, waveguide
properties are extremely sensitive to waveguide geometry on account of high optical conne-
ment from the large index contrast inherent to the SOI platform. Furthermore, scattering
loss in these waveguides is highly sensitive to sidewall roughness and perturbations due to
substantial electric eld overlap between the etched Si/cladding boundary and the optical
mode [84]. Therefore, it is vital to develop well controlled, consistent, and high-quality fab-
rication processes to realize waveguides with controllable dimensions (< 10 nm) and with
line-edge roughness with only 1 nm 5 nm deviations [181].
16
CHAPTER 2. SILICON WAVEGUIDE FABRICATION 17
(a) Silicon on Insulator (SOI) Platform (b) Typical Si Waveguide on SOI Platform
Width ~
300 nm - 700 nm Cladding:
Air (n~1) or
SiO2 (n~1.44)
200 nm - 400 nm
Height ~
Si Device/epi Layer Si Core
Thickness ~ 200 nm - 400 nm n ~ 3.5
SiO2 BOX
Burried Oxide Layer (BOX) n ~ 1.44
Thickness ~ 1 μm - 3 μm
Si Handle Wafer Si Handle Wafer
Thickness > 500 μm n ~ 3.5
Figure 2.1: (a) Typical Si-on-insulator (SOI) materials stack including thin Si device/epi
layer, SiO2 burried-oxide-layer (BOX), and thick Si handle wafer. (b) Typical Si waveguide
fabricated on the SOI platform. Waveguide widths typically vary between 300 nm 700 nm,
and waveguide heights typically vary between 200 nm 400 nm. The waveguide Si core is
decoupled from the Si handle wafer by a BOX between 1 µm 3 µm thick.
To meet the requirements of realizing low-loss Si waveguides for both linear and non-
linear applications, a collection of fabrication process were developed from the ground up
using the semiconductor processing tools at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
at Brookhaven National Laboratories. A number of dierent approaches were considered,
which resulted in dierent fabrication methodologies depending on application, need, and
tool availability. Two dierent hard-mask processes were developed, including a method
based on depositing an oxide hard-mask for Si etching, and a method based on hydrogen
silsesquioxane (HSQ) resist to directly dene a hard-mask using e-beam lithography. Two
etching methods were also developed, one based on cryogenic cooling and SF6 etching, and
the other a room-temperature etching based on HBr/Cl. All of these approaches were used
in dierent combinations to create low-loss Si photonic devices.

2.1.1 Wafer Selection and Cleaning

SOI wafers with a 250 nm device layer and 3 µm BOX were selected, which featured a device
layer thin enough to engineering single-mode waveguides with highly conned modes, and a
BOX layer thick enough to decouple the guided-modes from the high-index Si handle wafer
and avoid radiation loss to the substrate. After dicing the wafer into chips with dimensions
on the order of 0.5 cm 1 cm × 0.5 cm 1 cm, a thorough clean was performed. The clean
process consisted of baking the chips at high temperature (300◦ C) to ensure evaporation
of any water layer which would cause a hydrophobic Si surface and diculties later with
resist spinning. After a simple bake on a hot plate, the chips were soaked and sonicated
separately in three standard solvents: acetone, followed by methanol, followed by isopropyl
alcohol (IPA). The chips were inspected, and optional subsequent cleaning using oxygen
plasma in a reactive-ion-etcher (RIE) or a piranha solution (mixture of sulfuric acid and
hydrogen peroxide) was performed to complete the clean.
2.1.2 Oxide Hard-Mask Method

A high quality thin-lm of SiO2 was deposited on the top of the SOI chip using a plasma-
enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (PECVD) and using N2 O/N2 /SiH4 chemistry.
It was found that high-temperature (400◦ C) deposition resulted in the most uniform lms
with the smallest grain diameters. For example, a PECVD thin oxide lm grown at 100◦ C,
160◦ C, and at 400◦ C, are shown in Fig. 2.2. The target oxide layer was on the order of 20
nm thick; thick enough to serve as an oxide hard-mask for subsequent Si etching processes
based on etch selectivity between Si/SiO2 , while thin enough to avoid noticeable charging
eects when performing e-beam lithography on resist deposited on top of the SiO2 . A
spectroscopic ellipsometer was used to characterize the index of refraction of the PECVD
oxide at a wavelength of 1550 nm, and it was found that nPECVD,oxide ∼ 1.489, close to the
nSiO2 ∼ 1.444 of pure amorphous SiO2 at room temperature.
Figure 2.2: PECVD SiO2 deposition for thin hard mask at dierent temperatures: (a) 100◦ C,
(b) 160◦ C, (c) 400◦ C. The most uniform lm with the smallest grain diamters are observed
for the thin lm grown at 400◦ C.
Once the oxide was deposited, an organic lm of ZEP-520A e-beam resist was formed
using a resist spinner, and subsequent bake. ZEP is a high-contrast high-resolution positive
e-beam resist that also has high-sensitivity. For example, ZEP is ∼ 34 times more sensitive
than PMMA allowing for much faster write times for the same write area. Spinning was
done at 3500 RPM using ZEP-520A diluted 1:1 in anisole, in order to target a ZEP thickness
between 350 nm 400 nm. The lm was then post-baked at 180◦ C for 3 minutes to drive
out any remaining solvents.
As a positive resist, the portions of the pattern that were exposed during e-beam writing
were eventually developed away, leaving only the unexposed regions behind to serve as a
mask for the next process. With this in mind, waveguides were formed by writing trenches 2
µm in width, spaced by the target waveguide width in order to dene the devices (Fig. 2.3).
The 2 µm trench was wide enough such that once fabricated, the waveguide mode would not
couple to the remaining silicon slab 2 µm away on each side in the transverse direction.
Figure 2.3: Fabrication process for dening Si waveguides using oxide hard-mask process.
(a) HSQ e-beam resist is spun on the surface of an SOI wafer with 250 nm device layer and 3
µm BOX layer. (b) e-beam lithography is performed to dene the waveguide structures. (c)
ICP etching transfers the patters in the resist mask to the Si layer. (c) An SiO2 top-cladding
is deposited via PECVD
Patterns were exposed using a JEOL JBX-6300FS e-beam lithography tool with 100-keV
acceleration voltage at the CFN, which featured a laser interferometer stage for very accurate
stitching (< 9 nm) between write elds. The write elds themselves were 500 µm × 500 µm,
and the chosen beam current was 2 nA, resulting in a beam spotsize on the order of 5 nm.
For the ZEP resist, a dose array of dummy waveguide structures was used to determine the
appropriate dose for the target structure. A "bulk/sleeve" method was employed, meaning
that the edges of each structure was written rst at a very ne shot pitch (2 nm), followed by
writing the interior regions using a much coarser shot pitch (5 nm 20 nm). This approach
allowed for smooth edges, which are necessary for low scattering loss, while also signicantly
reducing write time in the bulk regions, which have no contribution to scattering loss.
Figure 2.4 shows an optical microscope image of a write using the bulk/sleeve method
that was aborted in the middle in order to demonstrate how the sleeve is written rst,
followed by lling in the bulk region. Proximity eect correction (PEC) was also vital for
the waveguide structures, especially since the thin layer of SiO2 could act as a charging
layer and cause distortion or deections of the electron beam prole. PEC was performed
by generating a dose table using material models and an electron Monte Carlo scattering
simulation platform built into a commercial software package, Layout BEAMER, available
at the CFN.
Figure 2.4: Optical micrograph of bulk sleeve method. The sleeve is written rst with ne
resolution, followed by the bulk regions with a much coarser resolution.
Once exposed, the chip was removed from the e-beam lithography tool and developed in
xylenes to remove the portions of the pattern that were exposed during the write. The chip
was rinsed in IPA, and baked at 100◦ C on a hotplate to slightly reow the resist to reduce
line-edge roughness.
The resist patterns were then transfered to the oxide hard-mask via an RIE oxide etch
with CHF3 /CF4 /Ar chemistry. For this etch, the etch anisotropy is ascribed to side-wall
coverage with a uorocarbon lm [182, 183], and the rate of etching is further enhanced
through high-energy ion bombardment with Ar+ to accelerate etching of SiO2 by uorine
[184]. The anisotropy can therefore be completely described by a single parameter, the ratio
of free-uorine to carbon (F/C ratio). For CF4 etching, the main reactions that result in
SiO2 removal, are:
CF4 −→ 2F + CF2 (2.1)
SiO2 + 4F −→ SiF4 + 2O (2.2)
SiO2 + 2CF2 −→ SiF4 + 2CO. (2.3)
For CHF3 /CF4 /Ar chemistry, the concentration of CHF3 allows F/C to be tuned [185], since
H + F −→ HF (2.4)
and each free H essentially removes a F from the reaction. The concentration of CHF3 is then
used as the tuning parameter for achieving a vertical SiO2 etch to transfer the waveguide
patterns to the oxide mask. After pattern transfer, the ZEP resist was removed from the
surface using a piranha soak, leaving only the oxide hard-mask behind.
2.1.3 HSQ Method

An alternative for dening an oxide hard mask was developed based on HSQ e-beam resist.
There were three goals for investigating a new method for obtained a hard mask for Si etching
and pattern transfer:
1. A resist capable of acting as a hard mask without subsequent processing (reducing
total processing steps and processing time).

2. A negative resist such that the waveguides or devices could be written directly, as
apposed to positive resists where trenches around devices had to be written (reducing
pattern complexity).
3. A resist and e-beam lithography process capable of low line-edge-roughness and high
resist contrast (maintaining or improving high quality process).
All three of these goals were met though adopting HSQ as both the e-beam resist and
hard-mark for Si etching.
HSQ is a non-organic owable oxide providing superior etch resistance, making it ideally
suited for serving as a hard-mask for Si etching. HSQ is also a negative resist which cross-
links when exposed to a high enough electron-beam dose. The disadvantage of HSQ over
ZEP is that the dose for HSQ is substantially higher (∼ 100×), resulting in a longer exposer
time for the same area. However, it was found that since HSQ is a negative resist, the
advantage of writing the waveguide instead of the trenches made write times between the
two methods on the same order.

Figure 2.5: Fabrication process for dening Si waveguides using HSQ process. (a) HSQ
e-beam resist is spun on the surface of an SOI wafer with 250 nm device layer and 3 µm
BOX layer. (b) e-beam lithography is performed to dene the waveguide structures. (c) ICP
etching transfers the patters in the resist mask to the Si layer. (c) An SiO2 top-cladding is
deposited via PECVD
After following the same cleaning procedure as described in Sec. 2.1.1, ∼ 90 nm 110
nm of HSQ was spun on the surface of the SOI chip using a resist spinner, followed by a
low-temperature-bake at 80◦ C to drive out any remaining solvent without excessively pre-
exposing the HSQ before e-beam writing. After baking, the chips were loaded into the JEOL
JBX-6300FS for e-beam writing. For this process, all features were directly written with the
same beam current (2 nA) and spot-size spacing (2 nm - 4 nm). PEC was still used in the
same way as described in Sec. 2.1.2.
After exposure, a "salty" developer consisting of a mixture NaCl, NaOH, and H2 O was
used to provide a high-contrast development process [186, 187]. It was very important to
create a development procedure that also reduced the number of HSQ particulates that
landed on the surface during the process. These particles would directly transfer into the Si
device layer in the form of pillars after Si etching (Fig. 2.6). It was found that the best way
to reduce stray HSQ particles was to sonicate the samples during development to prevent
particles from resting on the surface. The samples were also sonicated as they soaked in water
after the development process, to again discourage particles from resting on the surface. By
following this general procedure, it was possible eliminate stray HSQ particles almost entirely
from landing on the Si surface and causing features that would contribute to scattering loss
in the waveguide devices.
Figure 2.6: Example of Si pillars formed by HSQ development process with HSQ residue left
behind.
2.2 Si Etching
Two methods for smooth and vertical Si etching were also developed, both of which were
compatible with the oxide-hard-mask method and the HSQ method.
2.2.1 Cryogenically Cooled SF6/O2 Etch

The rst Si etch processes developed was based on SF6 /O2 chemistry at low (∼ −100◦ C)
temperatures. At these cryogenic temperatures, the sidewall passivation is accomplished
through the formation of a SiOx Fy (siliconoxyuoride) composition [188, 189, 190], which
then evaporates at room temperature, leaving virtually no residue behind, with no formation
of an oxidized Si surface layer. Through control of the etch temperature and gas concentra-
tion, smooth vertical etches could be realized.
For this method, maintaining thermal conductivity was vital, and it was necessary to keep
the wafer or SOI chip cooled to prevent the etch-stop passivation layer from dissipating.
Therefore, the SOI chip was attached to a Si load wafer by heating the load wafer on a
hotplate and melting indium on the surface. The SOI chip was then attached to the Si load
wafer through the layer of melted indium, and after cooling down, the indium layer allowed
the SOI chip to adhere to the load wafer while providing good thermal contact between the
two. During the etch, the Si load wafer was cooled on the back-side by liquid hydrogen. The
etch itself was highly selective to Si over SiO2 , so the 3 µm BOX layer acted as a natural
etch-stop.
2.2.2 HBr/Cl Si Etch

Another process for Si etching was developed, motivated by nding an etch process closer
to room temperature to reduce etch time and increase process repeatability. Furthermore,
the cryo SF6 /O2 etch is also very sensitive to temperature, and there is a narrow operating
temperature where vertical Si sidewalls can be generated [188] without the generation of
"black Si," which is essentially the formation of densely packed Si pillars [190]. This results
in a processes that must be carefully tracked over time to maintain repeatability. Another
approach for Si etching is based on room-temperature HBr etching, which also has very high
selectivity to SiO2 , allowing the BOX layer to serve as a natural etch-stop, and SiO2 or HSQ
to be used as a hard-mask. HBr etching is known as a very clean etch [191], without many
post-etch residuals, however one drawback is the corrosive nature of HBr, which requires
extra safety measures when utilized in a cleanroom.
Careful tuning of the ratio between Cl and HBr was performed in order to get vertical
sidewalls with limited notching at the bottom [192, 193], along with smooth Si lms for
partial etches [192, 193]. Partial etches were critical for devices that required slabs, such as
photodetectors that would be biased through a doped slab region in order to make electrical
contact between the waveguide core and external contact pads.

Figure 2.7: A collection of images showing fabricated waveguides with smooth sidewalls.
2.3 Fabricated Si Waveguides

The fabrication processes described in the previous sections were used to make a number of
Si photonic devices, some of which will be introduced in this thesis. Both the oxide hard-
mask method and HSQ hard-mask method, in combination with either the cryo SF6 /O2 or
HBr/Cl Si etch method, resulted in waveguides with similar performance. The preferred
process was the HSQ method in combination with the HBr/Cl Si etch method, since the
combined processing steps were smaller, and therefore there was less room for variability in
the overall process. Fig. 2.7 shows an SEM image of a typical fabricated Si waveguide using
the HSQ method and HBr/Cl etching. The HSQ hard-mask is still visible on the top surface
of the waveguide, and the waveguide sidewalls are vertical and smooth. Figure 2.7(a) shows
some notching at the base as a result of an over-etch, however this notch had limited eect on
performance, especially when clad with PECVD oxide. Figure 2.7(b) shows an SEM closeup
of the waveguide sidewall.
Figure 2.8 and Fig. 2.9 show a collage of devices fabricated at the CFN using the
fabrication procedures outlined in this chapter, demonstrating that through the advanced
tools at the CFN, and through rened fabrication procedures, it is possible to realize a very
diverse set of integrated Si photonic devices.

Figure 2.8: A collection of images showing fabricated Si photonic devices using the fabrication
methods described in this chapter
Figure 2.9: A collection of images showing fabricated Si photonic devices using the fabrication
methods described in this chapter, extended from Fig. 2.8
2.4 Mode Converters for Ecient Coupling

For Si photonic devices, ecient coupling between external light sources and the integrated
device is critical, especially in the case of nonlinear optics where every dB of loss has a direct
eect on eciency. For the waveguides fabricated at the CFN, two methods were developed
for ecient coupling, both based on inverse tapered waveguide mode expanders [27].
Inverse tapers work by tapering down the lateral dimensions of the waveguide until the
waveguide cross-section is below the diraction limit. Once the dimensions are smaller than
the diraction limit, the mode is no longer tightly conned, and instead loses connement
with reduced waveguide size. In fact, after this point, the mode-eld-diameter (MFD) of the
mode is expanded as the waveguide approaches zero and the guided eigen-mode approaches
a plane wave. Therefore, it is possible to taper the waveguide down to a specic dimension
such that the MFD of the mode is approximately that of a lensed tapered ber for exter-
nal coupling. For both of the mode converters described in this section, inverse tapered
waveguides were used as the basic mechanism for mode-expansion.
2.4.1 Inverse Tapered Waveguide and Polymer Waveguide

One way to utilize an inverse tapered waveguide for on-chip coupling, is to use the taper to
squeeze light out of a high-index Si waveguide and into a lower-index polymer waveguide,
which can then guide the light to the edge facet of the chip (Fig. 2.10). The polymer
waveguide can be designed with dimensions supporting a fundamental mode that closely
matches the MFD of a lensed tapered ber (∼ 3 µm × 3 µm MFD) thus allowing for
ecient on-chip coupling [97, 99, 194].

This approach was realized by fabricating a polymer waveguide directly, again at the
CFN, using photolithography and SU-8 photoresist. SU-8 is a negative photoresist and an
organic epoxy-like polymer; therefore, a polymer waveguide could be directly dened using
lithography and subsequent development. To support a photolithography-dened waveguide,
a photolithography mask was needed, complete with the necessary alignment marks to allow
for precise alignment between the mode-converter and Si waveguide nanotaper.
Figure 2.10: Cartoon showing operation of the SU-8 spot-size-converter (SSC). A nanotaper
was used to squeeze the mode into the SU-8 waveguide, which then guided the light to the
edge of a cleaved chip for edge-coupling.
A process was developed to fabricate custom photolithography masks at the CFN. The
mask was dened via e-beam writing with the JEOL JBX-6300FS on a silica plate with a thin
layer of chromium evaporated on the surface. This plate served as a blank photolithography
mask which could be processed to create the necessary mode-converter designs. To create the
mask, ZEP was rst spun onto the surface and baked using virtually an identical procedure
to the one dened in Sec. 2.1.2. Once coated with ZEP, the mask was loaded in the JEOL
JBX-6300FS for e-beam writing. A new dose array was necessary to determine the optimal
dose for this unique substrate and pattern. For mask writing, a much coarser shot spacing
was used, along with a higher beam current (> 10 nA) to increase write speed; no PEC was
employed.
Once the patterns were written, the resist was developed using xylenes, then soaked in
IPA and deionized water (di-water) to rinse away any remaining developer. Finally, the
pattern was transfered to the chrome lm through a wet chromium etchant, before again
being soaked in di-water to wash away the etchant. The pattern was inspected in an optical
microscope, and if more etching time was needed, the etch processes was repeated until there
was clear breakthrough to the silica substrate of the mask.
With a fabricated photolithography mask, it was then possible to dene the polymer
waveguide for the on-chip mode converter. This was done by spinning 3 µm of SU-8 2
photoresist onto the SOI chip featuring the already fabricated Si waveguide devices. This
was accomplished through a relatively slow ∼ 1500 RPM spin. The resist was then pre-
baked at 65◦ C for 1 minute, followed by a 1 minute soft-bake at 95◦ C before being loaded
into the photolithography stepper for exposure using the in-house fabricated mask. Once
exposed, the sample underwent a 1 minute post-exposure bake at 65◦ C, followed by a 1
minute post-exposure bake at 95◦ C. The sample was then developed in propylene glycol
monomethyl ether acetate for 2 minutes before being immersed in IPA and then di-water.
Finally, the sample underwent an additional 2 minute hard-bake at 200◦ C to further cross-
link the epoxy-like polymer. Once dened, the sample could be cleaved through to expose
the polymer waveguide facet, completing the fabrication process.
Figure 2.11(a) shows an optical micrograph of a series of SU-8 waveguides aligned pre-
cisely to Si waveguides, and Fig. 2.11(b) shows a closer image of an aligned polymer waveg-
uide. Figure 2.11(c) is focused on the nanotaper within the polymer waveguide, showing
how the width is tapered down and terminated. Figure 2.11(d) shows an SEM image of the
tip of the nanotaper; in this case, the nanotaper had a width of ∼ 80 nm at the tip.
Figure 2.11: Optical micrographs showing fabricated SSC
2.4.2 Inverse Taper with Oxide Cladding

A disadvantage of the polymer waveguide coupler outlined in Sec. 2.4.1, is that it is not
straightforward to use in conjunction with an over-cladding. For example, if a device re-
quires an oxide cladding to target a specic dispersion prole, it is not easy to clad the Si
waveguide while avoiding deposition on the relatively delicate polymer waveguide coupler.
Also, cladding Si photonic devices with oxide has logistical and reliability advantages, where
the device is protected against dust and contamination, while passivating the sidewalls. In
cases where it is desirable to use an oxide cladding, another on-chip coupling method was de-
veloped, without the need of a polymer waveguide. Another advantage of circumventing the
polymer waveguide was that aligning the SU-8 coupler to the Si taper was challenging, and
increased overall processing steps and processing time. In addition, a new photolithography
mask needed to be fabricated if the coupler design changed.
Figure 2.12: Concept for on-chip mode-converter based on a nanotaper with extended tip.
Instead, a nano taper was used, however with a tip that was extended multiple mm's
as shown in Fig. 2.12. The tip of the taper supports a loosely guided waveguide mode,
with controllable MFD though the tip width, allowing the extended tip to support a mode
that matched well with the beam prole of a lensed tapered ber. The disadvantage of this
approach is potential radiation loss to the Si substrate, however with the 3 µm BOX layer
and proper selection of the extended tip geometry, radiation loss could be almost completely
eliminated. The chip could then be cleaved along the tip, with no need for time consuming
polishing steps to reduce the facet to the end of the taper [27].
By utilizing the coupling method described in this section, or in Sec. 2.4.1, it was possible
to achieve insertion losses due to coupling of ∼ 2 dB/facet 4 dB/facet.

2.5 Propagation Loss
Figure 2.13: Optical micrograph showing a number of densely pack Si photonic devices,
including ring resonators and optical delay lines of dierent length used for extracting prop-
agation loss.
To measure the propagation loss of the fabricated waveguides, a cutback measurement was
performed, where the total insertion loss as a function of waveguide width was obtained such
that the slope of the curve could be used to back-calculate the propagation loss.
Instead of using a single waveguide and doing a multi-step polish to measure the insertion
loss at dierent lengths, a number of optical delay-line test structures were fabricated on the
same chip, each of which had the same waveguide geometry however with a dierent total
waveguide length. This was achieved by introducing waveguide bends as shown in Fig. 2.13
with linear waveguide segments of varying length connecting the bends (Fig. 2.13). Note
that for each delay-line, the number of waveguide bends were kept at a constant. Assuming
that the coupling loss and average propagation loss for each structure is the same, it is then
possible to extract the propagation loss.
Figure 2.14 shows a typical result of a waveguide fabricated using the processes described
in this chapter. This particular result was obtained from a waveguide fabricated using the
HSQ hard-mask method and cryo SF6 /O2 Si etch method, and a propagation loss of ∼ 4.7
dB/cm was obtained for a 250 nm × 600 nm (height × width) waveguide using the quasi-
transverse-electric (QTE) mode. This propagation loss is competitive with values reported
by other groups, and allows for ecient nonlinear processes and linear devices to be realized.
Figure 2.14: Measured propagation loss using a cutback method for QTE mode of a 250 ×
600 nm oxide-clad waveguide.
2.6 Future Paths to Reduced Sidewall Roughness

If it is necessary to realize waveguide devices with even lower propagation loss motivated by
system or device requirements, there are numerous strategies and techniques for smoothing
sidewall roughness for reduced propagation loss, including using repeated wet or dry oxida-
tion plus oxide etching [195], Si reow via hydrogen annealing [196], or etchless processes
using thermal oxidation [197]. Propagation loss can also be reduced by adopting rib-based
waveguides with larger mode diameters and less overlap between the electric eld of the
guided mode with the etched Si sidewall.
2.7 Conclusions
This chapter has outlined a number of approaches for fabricating Si waveguides with low
line-edge roughness, low propagation loss, and ecient on-chip coupling. The combined
two hard-mask techniques, two Si-etch approaches, and two coupler-designs allow for a very
exible platform for building both linear and nonlinear Si photonic devices for all-optical
control.
3 Modeling Nonlinear Si Photonic Processes
3.1 Kerr Nonlinearity

To begin investigating the nonlinear behavior of Si waveguides, consider the electric polar-
ization, P ,
.
P = 0 (χ(1) E + χ(2) : EE + χ(3) ..EEE + · · · ) (3.1)
where 0 is the permitivity of free space, and χ(i) is the ith order susceptibility. χ(2) describes
the Pockels eect, which includes the electro-optic eect, and χ(3) describes the Kerr non-
linearity. As introduced in Ch. 1, crystalline Si belongs to the m3m crystallographic point
group, and as such the second order susceptibility, χ(2) , necessarily vanishes (under the dipole
approximation), making the lowest-order nonlinear contribution that of χ(3) . Assuming that
the contribution from χ(3) is >> than that of χ(i>3) , the nonlinear polarization, PNL , can be
considered to be
.
PNL = 0 χ(3) ..EEE. (3.2)
40
CHAPTER 3. MODELING NONLINEAR SI PHOTONIC PROCESSES 41
Considering an oscillating electromagnetic eld with an electric eld component, E(r, t),
with spatial distribution r and temporal envelop along t, of the form
1 1
E(r, ω) = E(r, ω)e−iωt + E(r, ω)∗ eiωt , (3.3)
2 2
PNL becomes
3 .
PNL (r, ω) = 0 χ(3) (ω; ω, −ω, ω)..E(r, ω)E ∗ (r, ω)E(r, ω). (3.4)
4
χ(3) (ω; ω, −ω, ω) is the third-order nonlinear susceptibility, and is described by a 4th rank
tensor. It is then necessary to construct the tensor elements describing χ(3) .
The χ(3) of Si has 21 nonzero elements as a result of its m3m point group symmetry,
(3) (3) (3) (3)
with 4 of the elements being independent (χ1111 , χ1122 , χ1212 , χ1221 ). In assuming Klein-
(3) (3) (3) (3)
man symmetry, χ1122 = χ1212 = χ1221 , leaving only two independent elements (χ1111 and
(3)
χ1122 ). The ratio of these two remaining elements has been experimentally measured to be
(3) (3)
χ1111 /χ1122 ≈ 2.36 (which illustrates a strong anisotropy of χ(3) in Si, a point that will be at
the forefront in Ch. 6) and determined to be ∼ constant over a free-space wavelength range
of λ = 1.2 − 2.4 µm. Thus the χ(3) tensor can be completely characterized with knowledge
of a single tensor element. Furthermore, the TPA coecient (βTPA ) can be related to the
nonlinear index (n2 ) through a relation determined through Kramers-Krönig,
ω i 3ω (3)
n2 + βTPA = χ (3.5)
c 2 40 c2 n2 e
where ω is the angular frequency, 0 the free-space permittivity, n the index of refraction
(3)
of Si, and χe an eective susceptibility, dened in terms of tensor elements depending on
the crystal orientation and direction of propagation, and simplied to be dependent on only
a single element using the above element relations and symmetry considerations. By using
experimentally determined values for βTPA and n2 , knowledge of one of the tensor elements
in turn completely describes χ(3) .
Once χ(3) is determined, attention can be turned to the nonlinear processes that result
when strong signals interact, mediated by the nonlinear medium χ(3) describes. Exam-
ples of third-order nonlinear processes includes self-phase-modulation (SPM), cross-phase-
modulation (XPM), four-wave-mixing (FWM), third-harmonic generation, and Raman-based
processes. For the work described in this thesis, it is most useful to mathematically describe
SPM, XPM, and FWM, and for this work it is assumed that Raman eects are negligable.
However it has been shown that Si has a strong Raman response, and Raman ampliers and
lasers have been previously demonstrated. For a detailed discussion on the Raman eect
in Si waveguides, see [129, 136, 170, 171, 174, 175, 178]. Likewise, it is assumed that the
dispersion inherent to Si waveguides makes third-harmonic-generation very inecient, and
this eect is also ignored. However third-harmonic-generation has been observed in Si using
photonic crystal structures [167]. The rest of this chapter turns to the nonlinear dynamics
of Si that describes SPM, XPM, and FWM.
3.1.1 Eective Complex Third-Order Susceptibility

χ(3) is a bulk material property, and once it is known for Si it is possible to compute the
nonlinear interaction of signals in an all-Si environment. However Si waveguides are not an
example of an all-Si environment, as the supported optical modes of Si waveguides extend
into the cladding layers which are made of a lower index material such as air, Si3 N4 , or SiO2 .
These materials have their own nonlinear susceptibility and corresponding χ(3) . However
for these common claddings, χ(3) of Si is much larger, and the nonlinear contribution of the
cladding can be ignored. However, due to the mode having < 100% overlap with the Si core,
an overlap integral must be performed to dene an "eective" susceptibility, Γ. This is done
by nding the overlap between all electrical eld components of the waveguide mode, dened
as
E(r⊥ , z) = Ex (r⊥ )x̂ + Ey (r⊥ )ŷ + Ez (r⊥ )ẑ (3.6)
with the tensor elements of χ(3) in the following way:
.
E ∗ (r⊥ ; ω)χ(3) (r⊥ ; −ω, ω, −ω, ω)..E(r⊥ ; ω)E ∗ (r⊥ ; ω)E(r⊥ ; ω)dA
R
A0 A0
Γ= R 2 (3.7)
2
n (r⊥ )|E(r⊥ , ω)|dA
A∞
where A0 is the Si waveguide core area, A∞ represents integration over the full transverse
space, and n(r) is the index of refraction prole.
It is convenient to write Γ in terms of the standard eective nonlinear coecient, γ , by
3ωΓ
γ= . (3.8)
40 A0 vg2
γ also takes into account slow-light-enhancement via the group velocity of the guided mode,
vg , which is related to dispersion by
−1
∂β
vg = = β1−1 (3.9)
∂ω
where β1 is related to rst-order dispersion. The group velocity also has a corresponding
group index, Ng which describes the factor by which the mode travels with respect to the
speed of light in free space, c0 , by
c0
vg = . (3.10)
Ng
Standard values of γ in Si waveguides are on the order of 300 W−1 m−1 .
3.2 Nonlinear Loss and Carrier Eects
3.2.1 Two-Photon-Absorption (TPA)

0 00
Note that Γ = Γ + jΓ can be complex, on account of χ(3) having complex tensor elements.
0
In this case the real part of Γ, Γ , describes Kerr phase and amplitude nonlinearities, while
00 00
the imaginary component, Γ , describes losses due to TPA. By concentrating on Γ , one can
immediately describe the the rate at which an optical mode loses power during propagation
due to TPA, by the following rate equation
00
∂P 3ωβ12 P02 Γ
=− |u|4 . (3.11)
∂z 20 A0
3.2.2 Free-Carrier Absorption (FCA) and Dispersion (FCD)

Two photons are annihilated to generate a single carrier via TPA; therefore the rate at which
the carrier density, N , builds up and decays is related to the rate of TPA in addition to the
carrier lifetime, τc , by
00
∂N N 3β 2 P 2 Γ
= − + 1 0 2 |u|4 , (3.12)
∂t tc 40 ~A0
where the rst term on the RHS of Eq. (3.12) shows the rate of carrier recombination and
the second term describes the rate of carrier generation, which is strongly dependent on
optical power P0 , and β1 = vg−1 .
The free-carrier density, N , in the temporal steady-state, can be determined from Eq.
(3.12), and is given by,
00
6τc Γp
N= |Ap |4 . (3.13)
80 ~A20 vg,p
2
Carriers themselves introduce another complexity into this system in the sense that they
cause an index change in Si, or free-carrier-dispersion (FCD) δnFC , as well as introduce
additional loss via free-carrier-absorption (FCA), αFC . FCD is described by
e2 N 0.8

N
δnFC = − + (3.14)
20 nω mc e∗ mc h∗
where e is the electron charge, m∗ce is the electron eective mass and m∗ch is the eective mass
of holes. In Si, m∗ce = 0.26m0 and m∗ch = 0.39m0 where m0 is the free electron mass. FCA is
captured by
e3

1 1
αFC = − + (3.15)
0 cnω 2 ∗2
µe mce µh m∗2
ch
with µe and µh the electron and hold mobility respectively.

With these equations, the dynamics of TPA induced loss and FC generation, causing
FCA and FCD can be rigorously tracked. They also help motivate nonlinear Si photonics in
the mid-IR, where TPA approaches zero, eliminating TPA, and the consequential eects of
FCA, and FCD. This operating regime will be discussed in more detail in Ch. 7.
3.3 Kerr Nonlinear Processes

The optical Kerr eect describes spectral modulations of optical signals propagating within
Si waveguides. These modulations come from chirp originating from temporal index of re-
fraction variations through the nonlinear phase shift, eectively inducing additional spectral
components in propagating signals. A strong optical signal, or pump, can induce a nonlinear
index shift in the the medium it propagates in, eectively altering its own phase in a pro-
cess called self-phase-modulation (SPM). A pump can also aect the index of refraction a
co-propagating signal experiences, even if the signal has low enough power to be outside the
nonlinear regime. The chirp induced in a co-propagating signal by a strong pump is called
cross-phase-modulation (XPM), and this process serves as the basis for many all-optical pro-
cessing techniques discussed in this thesis where one optical signal (pump) can be used to
alter the phase or characteristic of another signal mediated by the nonlinear medium. This
possibility of using light to control light allows ultrafast all-optical on-chip control of optical
data and signals.
The Kerr eect also allows parametric mixing, where the total nonlinear polarization
induced from multiple waves includes new frequency components, eectively generating new
optical wavelengths. Four-wave-mixing (FWM), and specically degenerate FWM, is a para-
metric process that will be studied and utilized substantially in this thesis. FWM is also
a means for light to control light in the sense that the presence of a strong optical pump
induces the generation of new spectral components, allowing optical signals or optical data
at one wavelength to be translated to a new, spectrally distant wavelength.
In this section, the key mathematical equations used to model SPM, XPM, and FWM are
introduced. These equations will be used throughout this thesis to describe various nonlinear
processes and devices. FWM is rst introduced, since it requires mathematical machinery
which describes four co-propagating signals, or three co-propagating signals for the case of
degenerate FWM.
3.3.1 Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM)

Four-wave-mixing (FWM) is a nonlinear Kerr process whereby the nonlinear polarization
induced by three optical signals at dierent frequencies (ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ), contains a fourth spectral
component at a new frequency (ω4 ). Therefore, energy can be passed from strong pump
signals to the new wavelength (idler), and eectively can be used for wavelength conversion.
The generation of this fourth wave is contingent on conservation of energy and momentum.
The conservation of energy relationship can be described by
ω4 = ±ω1 ± ω2 ± ω3 , (3.16)
and the conservation of momentum relationship can be similarly described by
β4 = ±β1 ± β2 ± β3 , (3.17)
where βm = 2πne,m /λm is the wave-vector of the wave with frequency ωm . This indicates
that the eciency of FWM is sensitive to dispersion and phase matching, since Eq. (3.17)
is strongly sensitive on dispersion.
FWM where two of the photons in the process come from a strong pump at frequency
(ωp ) is termed degenerate-FWM. In such a conguration, the most ecient process generates
photons at a signal frequency (ωs ) and idler frequency (ωi ) according to
2ωp = ωs + ωi . (3.18)
Similarly, conservation of momentum, for degenerate-FWM, is reduced to
2βp = βs + βi . (3.19)
However, there is an additional contribution to the conservation of momentum originating
from the Kerr-phase shift induced by a strong pump signal. This nonlinear phase shift,
∆βNL , is equal to
∆βNL = 2γPp . (3.20)
where γ is given by Eq. (3.8). The total phase mismatch, ∆β , is then given by a linear
contribution ∆βlin and a nonlinear contribution, according to
∆β = ∆βNL − ∆βlin = 2γPp − (2βp − βs − βi ) . (3.21)
2πne,j
where βj = λ
. Increasing phase mismatch, ∆β , results in a decreasing conversion e-
ciency. Therefore dispersion has a strong eect on the 3-dB conversion eciency bandwidth
of FWM. The conversion eciency of the output idler (Pi,out ) with respect to the input signal
(Ps,in ), ηi = Pi,out /Ps,in , is given by
2
γPp
ηi = sinh(gL) . (3.22)
g
where g is the parametric gain,
s
∆βlin
g= γPp ∆βlin − . (3.23)
2
The maximum gain can be obtained by looking at the ∆βlin = 0 case, resulting in
ηi,max = sinh2 (γPp L) (3.24)
where L is the waveguide length. The conversion eciency bandwidth, ∆λBW , can be deter-
mined by nding the spectral separation needed such that the phase mismatch between the
pump, signal, and idler after a given L is equal to π . Assuming small gain (2γPp L << π ),
this condition is determined by |∆βL| = π . The phase mismatch can be approximated by a
Taylor expansion about the pump frequency,
1
∆βlin = −β2 (∆ω)2 − β4 (∆ω)4 (3.25)
12
where
∂ iβ
βi = . (3.26)
∂ω i
For the case of dominant second order dispersion, ∆λBW can be written as
r
4π
∆λBW = (3.27)
β2 L
where β2 is the group velocity dispersion.
Equation (3.27) demonstrates that in the small signal regime, the conversion eciency
bandwidth, for a given L, is only a function of dispersion. This illustrates the importants of
engineering dispersion for parametric processes, and the challenge of using highly dispersive
Si waveguides for FWM. Chapter 7 will be dedicated to exploring ways based on quasi-phase-
matching to extend the spectral bandwidth, increase the conversion eciency for specic
target wavelengths, and compensate for dispersion-induced phase mismatch.
The dynamics of degenerate FWM are modeled using a set of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger
equations (NLSE), which takes into account TPA, FCA, FCD, linear losses, and Kerr eects,
based on the methods outlined in [198, 129, 136, 199, 146]. The three coupled equations can
be described by the rapidly varying beam amplitudes, Aj = aj eiβj z , which change with
propagation as
dAj daj iβj z

= e + iβ0,j Aj (3.28)
dz dz
where j = p, s, i for the pump, signal, and idler, respectively, with the slowly varying ampli-
tudes ap , as , and ai , normalized such that they are measured in units of the square root of
power described by:
dap cκp ωκp FC

αpin + αpFC ap + i

=− δn ap
dz 2nvg,p nvg,p p
(3.29)
3ωp Γpppp 2
+i |ap | ap
40 A0 vg,p vg,p
for the pump, and
das,i cκs,i in + αFC a + i ωκs,i δnFC a

=− αs,i s,i s,i s,i
dz 2nvg,(s,i) nvg,(s,i) s,i

3ωs,i Γ(s,i)pp(s,i)
+i 2 2
|ap | as,i (3.30)
40 A0 vg,(s,i) vg,p
3ωi,s Γ(s,i)p(i,s)p 2 ∗ i(∆βlin )
+i ap ai,s e
40 A0 vg,(i,s) vg,p
for the signal and idler. Here, κ is the connement factor, αin the linear loss coecient, and
∆ω = |ωp − ωs | is the frequency spacing between the pump and signal. There are multiple
forms of Γ for the case of FWM, since the eective susceptibility is is related to modal
overlaps between the pump signal and idler. Γklmn can be determined by
.
e∗k (r⊥ ; ωk ) · χ(3) ..el (r⊥ ; ωl )e∗m (r⊥ ; ωm )en (r⊥ ; ωn )dA
R
A0 A0
Γklmn = . (3.31)
ζk ζl ζm ζn
The indices k, l, m, n refer to i, p, s where appropriate in Eq. (3.29), Eq. (3.30), Eq. (3.31)
and Eq. (3.32). The denominator for Eq. (3.31) has four separate overlap integrals between
the guided modes and the index of refraction prole, determined by
Z
ζ= n2 (r⊥ ; ω)|e(r⊥ ; ω)|2 dA. (3.32)
A∞
Assuming that most of the carriers are generated from two pump photons, the carrier rate
equation is the same as Eq. (3.12) with steady-state carrier density Eq. (3.13).
Together, these dynamic equations can be used to model the simultaneous eects of TPA,
FCA, FCD, linear loss, the Kerr phase shift, and FWM.
3.3.2 Cross-Phase-Modulation (XPM)

XPM, as previously mentioned, is a nonlinear eect where a strong pump causes a non-
linear Kerr index shift in the medium of propagation, which then alters the phase of a
co-propagating signal. In this process, one optical signal can indirectly aect another optical
signal since both signals are interacting with the same material. Such a process allows light
to aect light, and leads to interesting application such as all optical routing, switching,
modulation, sampling, and format conversion.
XPM is described in a similar way to FWM, however with a reduction in the number of
equations. It is also convenient to describe XPM from the perspective of pulse dynamics,
especially for later chapters where the eects of XPM on return-to-zero (RZ) and non-
return-to-zero (NRZ) data is considered, which have a pulse-like temporal envelope. This is
in contrast to the previous section, where FWM was described in terms of amplitudes, which
represents the continuous-wave (CW) regime.
The NLSE describing the two co-propagating pulses takes the form of:
β2,p ∂ 2 up β3,p ∂ 3 up

∂up 1 ∂up icκp
i + − 2
− i 3
= (αlin + αFCp ) up
∂z vg,p ∂t 2 ∂t 6 ∂t 2nvg,p
(3.33)
ωp κp 3ωp Pp Γpp 2 Ps Γsp 2
− δnFCp up − |up | + 2 |us | up ,
nvg,p 40 A0 vg,p vg,p vg,s
for the rst pulse (pump), and
β2,s ∂ 2 us β3,s ∂ 3 us

∂us 1 ∂us icκp
i + − − i = (αlin + αFCs ) us
∂z vg,s ∂t 2 ∂t2 6 ∂t3 2nvg,s
(3.34)
ωs κs 3ωs Ps Γss 2 Pp Γps 2
− δnFCs us − |us | + 2 |up | us ,
nvg,s 40 A0 vg,s vg,s vg,p
for the second pulse (probe). In these coupled equations, the Γpp and Γss terms represent
SPM of the pump and probe respectively, and the the Γsp and Γps terms represent XPM of
the pump induced by the probe and XPM of the probe induced by the pump respectively.
In the case of a strong pump and weak signal, Pp Γpp >> Ps Γsp and Pp Γps >> Ps Γss , and
Eq. (3.33) and Eq. (3.34) can be reduced to
β2,p ∂ 2 up β3,p ∂ 3 up

∂up 1 ∂up icκp
i + − − i = (αlin + αFCp ) up
∂z vg,p ∂t 2 ∂t2 6 ∂t3 2nvg,p
(3.35)
ωp κp 3ωp Pp Γpp
− δnFCp up − |up |2 up ,
nvg,p 40 A0 vg,p vg,p
for the rst pulse (pump), and
β2,s ∂ 2 us β3,s ∂ 3 us

∂us 1 ∂us icκp
i + − 2
− i 3
= (αlin + αFCs ) us
∂z vg,s ∂t 2 ∂t 6 ∂t 2nvg,s
(3.36)
ωs κs 3ωs Pp Γps
− δnFCs us − |up |2 us ,
nvg,s 20 A0 vg,s vg,p
for the probe respectively. The dierent values of Γ: Γpp , Γss , Γsp and Γps are found in a
similar fashion to Eq. (3.31):
.
e∗ (r⊥ ; ω)χ(3) (r, ωl ; ωl , −ωk , ωk )..e(r⊥ ; ωk )e∗ (r⊥ ; ωk )e(r⊥ , ωl )dA
R
A0 A0
Γkl = R R (3.37)
( A∞ n2 (r⊥ )|e(r⊥ ; ωk )|2 dA)( A∞ n2 (r⊥ )|e(r⊥ ; ωl )|2 dA)
0 00 00
Note that in Eq. (3.33) Eq. (3.36), all Γkl = Γkl + iΓkl are complex, where Γkl describes
TPA. Therefore there are two contributions to TPA, degenerate TPA and non-degenerate
TPA. Degenerate TPA is where both photons come from the same source, either both from
the pump or both from the probe; in the case of a strong pump and weak probe as describes
in Eq. (3.35) Eq. (3.36), only the case of two photons from the pump is preserved. Non-
degenerate TPA occurs when one pump and one probe photon is absorbed to promote a
free-carrier. This can have a signicant eect on the relative loss between the pump and
probe, and also an eect on the spectral chirp induced by XPM, which will be investigated in
more detail in Ch. 8. The rate equation governing the carrier density must also be adjusted
in the following way,
∂N
=
∂t !
00 00 00 00 (3.38)
N 3 Pp2 Γpp 4 Ps2 Γs 4
Pp Ps ωp Γsp + ωs Γps
− + 2
|up | + 2 |us | + 4 |up us |2
τc 0 ~A0 vg,p vg,s vg,p vg,s (ωp + ωs )
When comparing the NLSE describing XPM to those describing FWM, it is also clear
that the phase mismatch terms, ∆βlin vanish for the case of XPM. This implies that XPM
is intrinsically phasematched, and is a broadband nonlinear process.
3.3.3 Self-Phase-Modulation (SPM)

Finally, the simplest Kerr nonlinear eect to study is SPM, in the sense that it only involves
one wave. SPM is a process by which a strong optical signal introduces a Kerr index shift
on the material it is propagating in, causing its own phase to be modied.
To describe SPM, again a NLSE is used. The governing equation describing SPM and the
pulse dynamics of a single propagating wave, is related to the equations describing XPM. In
fact, the NLSE describing single pulse propagation can be derived from Eq. (3.36) describing
XPM, by setting Ps to zero. The result is identical to Eq. (3.35), and for completeness, is
rewritten here:
β2 ∂ 2 u β3 ∂ 3 u

∂u 1 ∂u icκ
i + − 2
− i 3
= (αlin + αFC ) u
∂z vg ∂t 2 ∂t 6 ∂t 2nvg
(3.39)
ωκ 3ω P0 Γ 2
− δnFC u − |u| u,
nvg 40 A0 vg vg
The carrier dynamics are appropriately described by Eq. (3.12) and Eq. (3.13).
3.4 Conclusions
In this chapter, the basic equations for rigorously modeling SPM, XPM, FWM, TPA, FCA,
FCD, and linear properties of propagating waves in Si waveguides are introduced. These
equations provide a powerful modeling platform for investigating nonlinear interactions in
Si waveguides, and are referred to many times throughout this thesis.

4 Large Longitudinal Electric Fields in Si Waveg-
uides
4.1 Introduction
Tight optical connement of the guided optical mode in Si waveguides has a number of
unique consequences, which aect both the linear and nonlinear optical physics describing
these systems. This chapter explores one consequence, mainly, the presence of large lon-
gitudinal electric and magnetic eld components [200, 201, 202]. These longitudinal elds
have implications on both the linear and nonlinear interactions within Si waveguides, and
as will be discussed, the longitudinal electric eld components can be on the same order
as the transverse elds in stark contrast to ber optic cables where the longitudinal modal
components are vanishingly small. In fact, for many analytical techniques used to model
optical propagation in ber optic cables and low index contrast waveguides, the longitudinal
eld is assumed to be zero out of simplicity; however when analyzing Si waveguides, this
simplication cannot be exercised. The large longitudinal electric elds in Si waveguides also
lend themselves to new applications entirely.
The longitudinal electric eld component (Ez ) of a propagating electromagnetic wave has
been the subject of considerable interest largely as a result of a number of enticing attributes.
First, it can be shown to focus tighter than the diraction limit [203, 204, 205, 206], which
56
CHAPTER 4. LONGITUDINAL ELECTRIC FIELDS IN SI WAVEGUIDES 57
lends itself to applications such as lithography [207], near-eld microscopy [208, 209], and
optical data storage [210]. Second, because of its directionality, applications have been
proposed to take advantage of this unique polarization, such as particle acceleration [211],
absorption dipole moment probing [212], multiple quantum well heterostructure excitation
[213], optical tweezing, morphology-dependent solar cells [214], [215], grating couplers in
high-index-contrast slab waveguides [216], as well as nonlinear optical response probing [217].
The longitudinal eld originates from the spatial derivative of the transverse elds [218];
hence by means of strong optical connement, the transverse elds occupy a small area and
large Ez components can be consequently generated. For a Gaussian beam, however, the
generation of a large Ez is nontrivial as it can be shown to be small for the paraxial case
[219]. Instead, one approach for creating large longitudinal elds in free space, as used in
many of the above applications, is through radially or azimuthally polarized beams [220, 221]
where longitudinal components emerge from the signicant variations of the transverse beam
prole near a focused spot.
This chapter will be dedicated towards an integrated approach to the generation of large
longitudinal electric elds, which is especially desirable due to the recent trend of minia-
turizing photonic devices and the growing interest in lab-on-chip nano-systems. Since Ez
originates from the spatial gradient of the transverse elds, it is expected that strong optical
connement associated with Si waveguides yield large values Ez .
Optical properties of Si waveguides have been shown to be highly sensitive to waveguide
geometry. As one example, the dispersion in these waveguides is dominated by the cross-
section geometry as opposed to material properties, allowing waveguide dispersive properties
to be engineered [136, 137]. As will be shown, the high waveguide dispersion of Si waveg-
uides is directly linked to the magnitude Ez , suggesting a tailoring of Ez through waveguide

geometry and index prole.
4.2 Basic Theoretical Considerations
4.2.1 Origin of Longitudinal Modal Components

The origin of the longitudinal electric eld within a waveguide can be understood through
a consideration of Maxwell's equations. In a waveguide, the electric eld vector may be
expressed as E(r) = E(r) exp (−jβz) where β is the propagation constant, z the direction
of propagation, and r is a position vector in 3D space [218], while suppressing the temporal
oscillation term ejωt for simplicity. Because of waveguide translational symmetry, E(r) =
E(r⊥ ), where r⊥ is the transverse position vector. Assuming an invariant dielectric prole
in the z direction, through Gauss's law, the longitudinal electric eld can be expressed as
∂Ez /∂z = −(1/n2 )∇T · (n2 ET ) [222] where ET denotes the transverse electric eld complex
amplitudes (Ex x̂ + Ey ŷ ). In piecewise homogeneous regions, one can show that Ez = ∇T ·
ET /jβ where ∇T = ∂
∂x
x̂ + ∂
∂y
ŷ the transverse gradient. Equivalently,
λ0
Ez = ∇T · ET (4.1)
j2πne
where ne is the eective index experienced by the mode and λ0 the free space wavelength.
For quasi-TE (QTE) and -TM (QTM) modes, ∇T · ET ≈ ∂Ex /∂x and ∇T · ET ≈ ∂Ey /∂y
respectively.
Note that Equation (4.1) is useful within the usual limits of the eective index approxi-
mation. Exact solutions for the electric eld have been discussed for the high-index-contrast
cylindrical waveguide [223] including the eect of varying radial extent. No exact solutions
exist for the channel case leaving numerical analysis as the best approach for investigating
these sub-wavelength Si waveguides. The dierence between the cylindrical and channel
cross-sectional waveguides will be discussed in more detail below. Nevertheless, Eq. (4.1)
does serve as a useful approximation for conveying the impact of tight connement on in-
creasing the longitudinal eld.
4.2.2 Longitudinal Components and Energy Transport

Examination of Eq. (4.1) shows that the complex amplitude of the longitudinal eld is
purely imaginary (by convention that the transverse elds are purely real) meaning that it is
in quadrature (π /2) phase with respect to the transverse elds. Similarly, Ez is in quadrature
phase with the transverse magnetic elds and examination of the time-averaged (over one
optical period) Poynting vector,
1
hSi = Re {E × H∗ } , (4.2)
2
where
E(r) = E(r⊥ )e−jβz = (Ex (r⊥ )x̂ + Ey (r⊥ )ŷ + jEz (r⊥ )ẑ) e−jβz (4.3)
and
H(r) = H(r⊥ )e−jβz = (Hx (r⊥ )x̂ + Hy (r⊥ )ŷ + jHz (r⊥ )ẑ) e−jβz (4.4)
reveals that
1
hSi = Re j Ez Hy∗ − Ey Hz∗ x̂ + j (Ex Hz∗ − Ez Hx∗ ) ŷ + Ex Hy∗ − Ey Hx∗ ẑ

2 (4.5)
1
= (Ex Hy − Ey Hx ) ẑ,
2
assuming Eq and Hq where q = x, y, z , is real.
From Eq. (4.5), it is clear that the longitudinal eld components Ez and Hz have zero
contribution to time averaged energy ux density, and therefore carries no net momentum;
however they do contribute to instantaneous energy transport. This is claried by instead
of looking at the time-averaged Poynting vector, hSi, looking at the instantaneous Poynting
vector S = Re {E} × Re {H}, resulting in
1 1
S = Re {E(r⊥ ) × H ∗ (r⊥ )} + Re (E(r⊥ ) × H(r⊥ )) e−2jβz . (4.6)

2 2
Considering the RHS of Eq. (4.6) as being constructed from two terms, S = T1 + T2 , the
rst term (T1 ), T1 = 1

2
Re {E(r⊥ ) × H ∗ (r⊥ )}, is identical to the end result of Eq. (4.5).
The second term (T2 ) has the spatial propagator attached, resulting in harmonic spatial
oscillations. Averaging the second term over one period results in 0, and hSi emerges.
However if intra-period dynamics are explored, the second term can no longer be reduced to
0, and a dierent story emerges. Looking at T2 , T2 = 21 Re (E(r⊥ ) × H(r⊥ )) e−2jβz , and

substituting Eq (4.3) and Eq (4.4) in T2 , it is found that
T2 =
(4.7)
1
Re [j ((Ey Hz − Ez Hy ) x̂ + (Ez Hx − Ex Hz ) ŷ) + (Ey Hx − Ex Hy ) ẑ] e−2jβz .

2
Thus, as described by T2 , the longitudinal elds are involved in a reactive power ow where
power oscillates between the transverse dimensions and longitudinal dimension as the elec-
tromagnetic eld propagates along the waveguide, guaranteed by the fact that powerow
along the transverse dimensions is in quadrature with respect to powerow along the longi-
tudinal dimension. This suggests that the longitudinal components act locally as an energy
reservoir, which represents real energy which can be tapped or coupled within a system.
4.2.3 Electric and Magnetic Energy Density

A propagating optical mode stores energy in the electric and magnetic elds, and it is through
these elds that energy is transported. To get a sense of the total energy stored by these
elds, consider the time-averaged stored electric and magnetic energies, per unit length,
where the electric stored energy per unit length, We , is given by
Z
1
We = 0 n2 (r⊥ ) |E (r)|2 dA (4.8)
4 A∞
and the magnetic stored energy per unit length, Wh , is given by
Z
1
W h = µ0 |H (r)|2 dA (4.9)
4 A∞
assuming the medium is non-magnetic with negligible material dispersion and negligible
absorption. The total stored energy per unit length is then simply
Z
1
0 n2 (r⊥ ) |E (r)|2 + µ0 |H (r)|2 dA (4.10)

Wtot = We + Wh =
4 A∞
Equation (4.8), Eq. (4.9), and subsequently Eq. (4.10) have integrations over |E (r)|2 and
|H (r)|2 respectively, which are proportional to the electric eld energy density and magnetic
eld energy density; if these magnitudes are expanded using Eq. (4.3) and Eq. (4.4), the
following expressions result:
|E(r)|2 = E(r) · E ∗ (r) = |Ex (r⊥ )|2 + |Ey (r⊥ )|2 + |Ez (r⊥ )|2 (4.11)
and
|H(r)|2 = H(r) · H ∗ (r) = |Hx (r⊥ )|2 + |Hy (r⊥ )|2 + |Hz (r⊥ )|2 (4.12)
where it is clear that both the time-averaged electric eld and magnetic eld energy densities
have contributions from the longitudinal elds Ez and Hz . Therefore, despite the conclusion
in Sec. 4.2.2 that the longitudinal components have no contributions to time-averaged energy
ux, the longitudinal components do contribute to time-averaged energy density.
Note that Eq. (4.8), Eq (4.9), and Eq. (4.10) are constructed with the assumption
of negligible material dispersion. For completeness, Wtot is re-written here with material
dispersion rigorously included:
λ2
Z 2
2 d n (r⊥ ) µ0
Wtot = − 0 |E(r)| 2
− 2 |H(r)| dA, (4.13)
4 A∞ dλ λ λ
assuming a non-magnetic material and negligible absorption, where the main conclusion that
the longitudinal elds have a contribution to the total energy density, is maintained.
4.2.4 Relationship Between Ez , Group Velocity, and Dispersion

Section 4.2.2 and Sec. 4.2.3 describe propagating electromagnetic elds where the longi-
tudinal component of the electric and magnetic elds contribute to time-averaged energy
density but not to time-averaged power ow. This fact has interesting implications when
combined with basic considerations of group velocity. Group velocity, vg , gives the speed
at which time-averaged power is propagated by a mode, and thus can be considered the
speed at which energy or information is transfered through a medium. vg was previously
dened by Eq. (3.9), and linked to total rst-order dispersion β1 by vg = β1−1 . It is clear
that increasingly high values of dispersion lead to slower group velocities. In fact, high-index
contrast sub-wavelength Si waveguides are known to have high waveguide dispersion, leading
to substantial group indices that can be as high as between Ng = 3.5 and Ng = 5.
Group velocity also plays a role between time-averaged energy density per unit length,
and the total integrated time-averaged power ux. In fact, vg is the proportionality constant
between the two, as shown by
Ptot = vg Wtot (4.14)
where
Z
Ptot = hSi dA (4.15)
A∞
is the total time-averaged power carried by the waveguide mode, found by integrating over
the entire time-averaged Poynting vector dened by Eq. (4.5). By using Eq. (4.5), Eq.
(4.11), Eq. (4.12), Eq. (4.13), Eq. (4.14) and Eq. (4.15), the following relation can be
reached:
λ2 n2 (r⊥ )
Z
2 2
d 2 µ0 2 2 2

−vg 0 |Ex | + |Ey | + |Ez | − 2 |Hx | + |Hy | + |Hz | dA
4 A∞ dλ λ λ
Z
1
= (Ex Hy − Ey Hx ) dA.
2 A∞
(4.16)
If it is assumed that the magnetic elds and electric elds store the same amount of energy,
We = Wh , then Eq. (4.16) is simplied to
λ2 d n2 (r⊥ )
Z
2 2 2
−vg 0 |Ex | + |Ey | + |Ez | dA
2 A∞ dλ λ
Z (4.17)
1
= (Ex Hy − Ey Hx ) dA.
2 A∞
Note that in Eq. (4.16) and Eq. (4.17), the full expression for Wtot dened in Eq. (4.13) was
used, which includes material dispersion. From Eq. (4.17), for a given λ and index prole
n(r⊥ ), it is clear that the longitudinal eld components Ez and Hz have no eect on the
RHS (time-averaged power ux), however do aect the LHS (time-averaged stored energy
per unit length) of the equation. To keep the equality of Eq. (4.17), as Ez is tuned, vg
must be adjusted to compensate. This suggests a deep equality between Ez and vg for these
translationally-invariant systems, where Ez is related to vg very directly.
The relationship between Ez and vg can be understood in a very loose way by thinking
about modes from the perspective of rays bouncing along a waveguide. Since rays dene
the direction of the Poynting vector used to describe plane waves, and for plane waves the
electric eld is normal to the Poynting vector, the sharper the bounce angle of the ray, the
larger the electric eld component oriented along the longitudinal direction of the waveguide
when the plane wave is decomposed into it three orthogonal spatial components. At the
same time, the sharper the bounce angle, the slower the group velocity. In other words, the
larger Ez , the more the intra-period Poynting vector E × H is oriented along the transverse
directions, making (E × H) · ẑ smaller and vg smaller. Of course such a loose description
using rays does not rigorously hold for high-index contrast sub-wavelength Si waveguides,
however it provides general incite and a general picture into how Ez and vg are linked.
4.2.5 Conclusions from Theoretical Considerations

The analysis preformed in this section illustrates a complex interdependence between high-
index-contrast guided wave systems and many basic features of the guided optical modes
support by such systems. High-index contrast enables the guided modes to be tightly con-
ned to sub-wavelength dimensions, which directly results in large longitudinal electric elds
as a result of substantial transverse gradients of the transverse eld components. Tight op-
tical connement also leads to large waveguide dispersion, which directly causes slow group
velocities. And in fact, by energy transport arguments, it is found that the longitudinal eld
components and group velocity are two sides of the same coin. In Ch. 5, this will be further
demonstrated by showing that the conditions that maximize Ez also minimize vg .
4.3 Calculation and Optimization of Ez

As suggested in Sec. 4.2.1, no exact solution exists for the modes supported by high index
contrast channel waveguides, leaving rigorous numerical techniques as the best approach for
calculating the vector eld components and proles, as well associated values of ne for each
mode. Calculations of the full vectorial modal components supported by a Si waveguide are
accomplished in this chapter using the nite element method (FEM), using a commercial
software package (FemSIM). Figure 4.1 shows the Ex and Ey components of the fundamental
QTE and QTM modes at wavelength λ = 1.55 µm supported by a Si waveguide with 260
nm ×400 nm (height, h × width, w) dimensions surrounded by a silicon-dioxide (SiO2 )
cladding. For this particular calculation, a grid size of w/45 and h/45 in the x and y
directions respectively was employed, and for all simulations in this section, an approximate
index of refraction of 3.5, 1.5 and 1.0 for Si, SiO2 , and air respectively was assumed. In
the gure, all elds are normalized to the peak dominant electric eld component, i.e., the
Ex (Ey ) component for the QTE (QTM) mode. With this geometry, the maximum Ez
amplitude is found to be ∼ 63% (78%) that of the maximum x-component (y -component)
amplitude. Since |Ez | is maximized where the transverse spatial derivative is maximized, the
largest Ez amplitude occurs near the waveguide sidewalls for QTE modes and the top/bottom
waveguide boundaries for QTM modes.
Fundamental Quasi-TE mode Fundamental Quasi-TM mode

a) b) c) d)
Ex Ez /j Ey Ez /j
Figure 4.1: The Ex (Ey ) and Ez components of the fundamental QTE (QTM) mode sup-
ported by a 260 nm × 400 nm Si nanowire waveguide surrounded by SiO2 cladding. Graded
yellow and blue colors indicate a π -phase dierence.
The magnitude of the Ez amplitude is highly dependent on the waveguide geometry since
the transverse prole approximately assumes the shape of the core for these highly conn-
ing Si waveguides above the diraction limit. Ez can therefore be modied signicantly by
variation of the height or width of the waveguide. Figure 4.2 shows a contour plot of the nor-
malized maximum Ez amplitude relative to the peak amplitudes of the corresponding QTE
and QTM modal elds. Notice that for QTE (QTM) modes, the near vertical (horizontal)
contour lines indicate that waveguide width (height) dominates the strength of Ez . Note Ez
is additionally related to the dimensionally dependent ne as shown in Eq. (4.1), however
numerical analysis shows that the longitudinal electric eld strength is predominantly deter-
mined by the spatial derivative, a consequence of connement. As the width is decreased to
∼ 300 nm, the magnitude of Ez increases due to the increasing spatial derivative; however
further width reduction results in loss of optical connement (as the core is reduced below
the diraction limit), and a sharp decrease in Ez .
As an example, a 330 nm × 320 nm Si nanowire on an SiO2 substrate with air cladding
Quasi-TE Mode Quasi-TM Mode

a) b)
0.9 0.9
0.9
0.4 0.4
0.8 0.8
0.8
0.94
0.7 0.7
0.7
0.3 0.3 0.87
0.6 0.6
0.6
0.5 0.5
0.5
0.2 0.2
0.4 0.4
0.4
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.5
air cladding
|Ez(max)| TE mode |Ez(max)| TM mode oxide cladding
c) d)0.8 0.8
0.8
0.5 0.50.7 0.7

0.7
0.85 0.6 0.6

0.6
0.4 0.4
0.5 0.5
0.5
0.3 0.3 0.85
0.4 0.4
0.4
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.5
Figure 4.2: |Ez(max) /ET(max) | for the QTE and QTM modes of Si waveguides with variable
dimensions, SiO2 substrate, and air (a,b) or SiO2 (c,d) cladding.
yields |Ez(max) /ET(max) | = 97%(89%) for the QTE (QTM) mode. This result shows that it
is possible to design a single waveguide such that its Ez component is comparable to that
of the transverse eld for both QTE and QTM modes. This is in contrast to standard ber
optic cable where Ez is only a few percent the transverse eld and is often ignored in analysis
[2]. Comparing Figs. 4.2(a) and 4.2(b) shows that a slightly smaller Ez exists for the QTM
mode compared with the QTE mode for the air/SiO2 cladding system and arises from a
larger SiO2 area being sampled by the eld for the QTM mode. Similarly, Ez is smaller for
the full SiO2 cladding system [Figs. 4.2(c)-4.2(d)] compared to the air/SiO2 system [Figs.
4.2(a)-4.2(b)].
To provide a comparison with the results for a channel waveguide, the longitudinal eld
of the fundamental HE11 mode for cylindrical-waveguides is investigated computationally.
Note that these computations agree with analytical results of Ref. [223], thus providing a
validating case for the computations. In addition, the results show that the increased con-
nement factor associated with a cylindrical Si nanowire allows for a larger Ez normalized to
the transverse eld [Fig. 4.3]. In general, this comparison shows clearly that for comparable
sizes, the longitudinal eld in a channel guide is less than that in a cylindrical waveguide.
For example, it is found that a 400 nm diameter cylindrical silicon waveguide with SiO2
cladding supports an Ez component ∼ 0.69 times that of the transverse eld [Fig. 4.3],
while a square Si nanowire waveguide (400 nm × 400 nm) with SiO2 cladding supports an
Ez component ∼ 0.58 times that of the transverse eld for both the QTE and QTM modes
[Figs. 4.2(c)-4.2(d)]. This dierence makes it important to provide specic calculations for
the channel guide. Numerical analysis of the channel structure also allows for the study of
non-symmetric claddings and rectangular cross-sections which are not well approximated by
circular cross-sections. Finally, it is noted that rectangular channel guides have the practical
geometry now being used in virtually all SOI PICs today.

Cylindrical Si Wire, HE 11 Mode
1
Ez (Normalized Units)
Air Cladding
0.9
SiO 2 Cladding
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
Wire Diameter (μm)
Figure 4.3: |Ez(max) /ET(max) | for the HE11 mode in a cylindrical Si nanowire of variable
diameter, and air (top blue line) or SiO2 (bottom red line) cladding.
4.4 Harnessing and Controlling the Longitudinal Electric

Field
To harness the axial electric eld component from a Si nanowire waveguide for practical
applications, such as the ones listed in Sec. 4.1 one rst needs to analyze the electric eld
prole at the edge of a terminated waveguide. This problem is explored using the nite-
dierence time-domain (FDTD) method, via a commercial software package, FullWAVE, to
simulate the propagation of the fundamental QTE mode supported by a 260 nm × 500 nm Si
nanowire surrounded by SiO2 cladding, and subsequently terminated into air. For this study,
a grid size of 10 nm, 26 nm, and 10 nm was used in the x, y , and z directions respectively,
with a step time (c0 T) of 0.006 µm where T is one temporal cycle. Here, prorogation in
a semi-innite wire was considered. Note that for a real nite-length wire, the length of
the wire itself would aect the electric eld intensity in the waveguide and consequently the
electric eld strength of all modal components due to Fabry-Pérot resonances and reection;
however even in the nite wire case the normalized strengths as presented in this section
would remain the same. This result was conrmed by varying the wire length over one λ
and nding the ratio Ez /ET .
Figures 4.4(a) and 4.4(b) show the Ex and Ez components respectively for a single
waveguide, where both have been normalized to the maximum Ex component. Note that a
jump in the Ez amplitude occurs due to the continuity of the normal electric displacement
D = E = 0 n2 E [Fig. 4.4(b)]. The transverse components of the electric eld, on the other
Propagation of Fundamental Quasi-TE Mode 2

1 c)
2.5 a) 2.5
b) |E z| |2E40
c) z nmx from
|
/ E (max)End
2 2 0.5 1
0.2
0.2
y (μm)
( m)
z (μm)
z (μm)
1.5 1.5
μ
0 00 0.
5
0.5
y
1 1
−0.2
-0.2
0.5 0.5 -0.5 0
Ex Ez / j −0.
5
-0.5 00 0.5
0.5
0 0 xx (μm)
(μm)
-1
-1 0 1 -1 0 1
z = 40 nm from endface
x (μm) x (μm)
Figure 4.4: The (a) Ex and (b) Ez electric eld components of a mode propagating in a 260
nm × 500 nm Si nanowire with SiO2 cladding. (c) |Ez /ET(max) |2 40 nm from the endface.
hand, are continuous across the interface by virtue of tangential electric eld continuity [Fig.
4.4(a)], and numerical calculations are in accord with the boundary conditions. An exam-
ination of the elds beyond the waveguide's endface clearly show a substantial presence of
Ez , and Fig. 4.4(c) shows a contour plot of |Ez |2 40 nm from the endface normalized to
Ex(max) 2 in the waveguide.

The relationship between the longitudinal and transverse modal components allows con-
trol of Ez , in principle, by modifying the transverse prole of the beam. In order to achieve
this capability, one may introduce a second identical waveguide at close proximity [Fig.
4.5(c)] carrying an identical but phase-delayed propagating mode. This may be accom-
plished, for example, by integrating two waveguides as part of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer
with one phase-controllable arm. The degree of interference between the transverse modes,
Antisymmetric Fundamental Mode

1 0.5
Normalized Units
a) b) c)
0 0
Ex Ez / j 260 nm
-1 −0.5
−0.5 0 0.5 −0.5 0 0.5 500 nm
x (μm) x (μm) 50 nm
Figure 4.5: The (a) transverse (Ex ) and (b) longitudinal (Ez ) eld components of the funda-
mental antisymmetric system mode supported by (c) dual waveguides where each waveguide
has cross-section dimensions 260 nm × 500 nm separated by a 50 nm gap.
and consequently Ez and the modal symmetry, can be controlled via the relative phase dif-
ference between the propagating modes. To demonstrate, dual 260 nm ×500 nm waveguides
are employed, excited at λ = 1.55µm. Through a FEM mode solver it is observed that such a
structure supports two fundamental system modes with the symmetric system mode yielding
a highly conned transverse eld in the gap region corresponding to the heavily analyzed
slot waveguide [224, 225], and the antisymmetric system mode where the transverse elds
in the two arms have a π phase dierence and remain in the Si regions [Fig. 4.5(a)]. For
the antisymmetric mode, the longitudinal component of the evanescent tails are in phase
in the gap and constructively interfere [Fig. 4.5(b)] while also constructively interfering at
the terminated output [Fig. 4.6]. In fact, for this mode the gap region contains a purely
longitudinal electric eld. Similar analysis has been reported from the perspective of optical
forces induced by evanescently coupled waveguides [226].
For this antisymmetric waveguide design, the mode coupling of the Ex and Ez components
into air (free-space) was found through FDTD [Figs. 4.6(a)-4.6(b)]. At the output, the
2
0.4 a) Ez 1.5 | Ez / Ex (max) |
2
0.2 c) |Ez | 0.2 d)
0.2 d)
y (μm)
0 1
1 0
1.5
z (μm) +Z 0
-d -0.2 0.5
0.5
ire
ct -0.2
0.5 -0.5 x (μm)
0 0.5 0.5 io 0
n
x (μm) 5 x (μm)
−0.
-0.5 0 0.5
0.5
2
-0.5 1.5 |Ez| 40 nm from end
0.4 1.5
b) Ex 0 e)
-1.5
A.U.
~320 nm
0.2 1
0 1 Air FWHM
0.5
z (μm)
2
1 00
z (μm) 0 −2-2 00 22
3 -2 -1 x (μm)
-0.5 x (μm)
0 0.5 xx (μm)
(μm)
x (μm) z = 40 nm from endface
Figure 4.6: The (a) Ez and (b) Ex electric eld components at the endface of dual 260 nm
× 500 nm Si nanowire waveguides with SiO2 cladding, 50 nm gap, terminated into air, and
excited by the fundamental antisymmetric system mode. (c) |Ez |2 near the edge of the dual
waveguide structure. Contour plot (d) and line scan (e) of |Ez |2 40 nm from the edge of the
waveguide.
longitudinal eld dominates that of the transverse eld and is further enhanced in free space
due to constructive interference [Fig. 4.6(c)]. A plot of the spatial contours of |Ez |2 40
nm from the endface [Figs. 4.6(d)-4.6(e)] reveals a very narrow peak; in fact it is beyond
the diraction limit and has a 320 nm (∼ λ/5) full-width half-maximum (FWHM) along
the x-direction. Furthermore, at this distance, |Ez |2 is ∼ 1.4 times that of |Ex |2 in the
waveguide. It is important to reiterate the signicant dierence between the traditional slot
waveguide modes [224, 225] and the design discussed here; the slot waveguide is traditionally
optimized to enhance the transverse elds in the gap, while here the longitudinal electric
eld is optimized in the gap and at the terminated output; thus dierent geometry and phase
relations must be considered.

4.5 Conclusions
In this chapter it has been shown numerically that the longitudinal electric-eld component
may become comparable to the amplitude of the transverse eld in high-index-contrast Si
nanowire waveguides. It is shown analytically that Ez , vg , waveguide dispersion quantied
by β1 , high index contrast and tight optical connement all have a subtle interdependent
relationship. Ez may be engineered via waveguide geometry and optimized to be ∼ 97% that
of the transverse eld, which allows Si nanowire supported Ez elds to have potential uses in
novel integrated waveguide applications such as optical isolation. Using the antisymmetric
system mode of a dual waveguide design, a purely longitudinal electric eld exists in the gap
between two waveguides and the longitudinal eld becomes further enhanced and sharply
peaked (∼ λ/5) at the output, which serves as an important new route to ultrahigh-resolution
applications such as sub-wavelength optical microscopy.

5 Dependence of Waveguide Geometry on Ef-
fective Nonlinearity
Silicon waveguides with sub-wavelength cross-sectional dimensions, support tightly con-
ned guided modes due to the large index-of-refraction contrast inherent to the SOI platform.
It is this tight connement that causes many modal characteristics to be highly sensitive to
waveguide geometry, a fact that has been used to carefully tailor devices for specic appli-
cations. In this chapter, the eect of waveguide geometry on the eective nonlinearity, γ ,
is explored by identifying the parameters that both change with waveguide geometry, and
which have a direct eect on Si waveguide nonlinearity.
5.1 Geometry-Dependent Parameters Aecting γ

Waveguide geometry is a key property that aects the magnitude of γ exhibited by Si
waveguides. This dependence is well known [129, 227, 228, 229], where the increase in the
optical intensity associated with decreasing the core area of the waveguide, made possible by
the high-index contrast characteristic to the SOI platform, eectively enhances γ . However,
here it is demonstrated that in addition to optical connement, the waveguide geometry
inuences a series of other waveguide properties that have a direct impact on the value of γ .
First consider the fundamental the QTE mode of a Si waveguide (oriented along the [11̄0]
crystallographic axis), determined for a constant waveguide height, h, where the change in
74
CHAPTER 5. WAVEGUIDE GEOMETRY AND NONLINEARITY 75
γ is calculated as a function of varying width, w. Figure 5.1(a) (black curve) shows the
dependence of γ for a waveguide with air top-cladding, h = 220 nm, and w varied from
300 nm 700 nm. The plot shows that γ reaches a maximum value (∼ 430 W−1 m−1 )
for a Si waveguide with w = 350 nm, and decreases rapidly for smaller w, indicating strong
geometry dependence. This behavior is further investigated by plotting dimension-dependent
parameters that have a direct impact on γ . Thus, the most common argument for the
enhanced γ for Si waveguides, is that the combination of decreased core area and tight
optical connement due to high index contrast results in increased optical intensity, which
eectively increases γ [129]. To investigate this conclusion, a dimensionless parameter, F ,
which characterizes the electric-eld-intensity connement, is dened as
R
λ2 n2Si (ω) A0 |E(r; ω)|2 dA
F = R . (5.1)
A0 A∞ n(r; ω)2 |E(r; ω)|2 dA
where nSi (ω) is the index of refraction of the waveguide core. Note that F includes the
electric eld connement factor normalized to the core area so as to capture the increase in
optical intensity with decreasing dimensions, including all eld components in E(r; ω). The
wavelength dependence of F is shown in Fig. 5.1(a) (blue curve), and illustrates that the
peak in the electric eld intensity at ∼ w = 330 nm does not coincide with the wavelength
associated with the peak of γ . This nding indicates that there are geometry-dependent
properties other than connement that have a strong eect on γ .
Equation (3.8) indicates that γ also has a vg−2 dependence. The eect of this variation on γ
is investigated by nding vg2 , as described by Eq. (3.9), for the same range of geometries. This
was done by using the nite-element-method to solve for the eective index, ne , as a function
Figure 5.1: (a) Dependence of waveguide parameters on waveguide geometry. The Si waveg-
uide considered has air top-cladding with h = 250 nm, and λ = 1.55 µm. A maximum γ of
430 W−1 m−1 occurs for a 250 nm × 350 nm waveguide. (b) Dependence of the F value for
Ez , Et , and E on waveguide geometry.
of wavelegnth, ne (λ), which was then t to a 9th order polynomial and dierentiated. The
result of this calculation is shown by the green curve in Fig. 5.1(a). Note that vg2 is minimized
at the same waveguide width as the maximum value for γ , indicating a strong dependence
on vg . This eectively describes SLE of the optical nonlinearity, as the interaction time of a
wave in a waveguide increases due to a slower group velocity, thus resulting in an increased
γ . This eect can also be understood by considering the dependence of the longitudinal eld,
Ez , on the waveguide geometry. The peak strength of |Ez (r; ω)| (Ez,max ) normalized to the
peak strength of |Et (r; ω)| (Et,max ), calculated for the same set of waveguide geometries, is
plotted in Fig. 5.1(a) (red curve). This plot reveals that Ez,max peaks for the same geometry
for which vg has a minimum. This matches well with the analysis presented in Sec. 4.2,
which concluded that Ez and vg are linked, thus the waveguide geometry and wavelength
that maximizes Ez also has the eect of minimizing vg . Therefore, SLE can be viewed as a
direct consequence of large longitudinal electric elds.
It is also of interest to consider, separately, the electric-eld-intensity connement factor

for each modal electric eld component. The results are shown in Fig. 5.1(b), where Ft and
Fz represent the F value for Et t and Ez , which were each found according to Eq. (4) by
replacing E(r; ω) with Et (r; ω) and Ez (r; ω) respectively. Fig. 5.1(b) illustrates that for the
waveguide geometries considered, Ez becomes increasingly conned as the waveguide w is
reduced.
By contrast, Et exhibits maximum connement for w = 350 nm, which is the same
geometry which maximized |Ez,max /Et,max | and γ , and minimized vg . This nding is explained
by the fact that Ez (r; ω) is related to the gradient of Et (r; ω) (see Sec. 4.2.1) [200], such
that Ez becomes largest where ∇ · Et is largest. The largest gradients will coincide with
modes that exhibit the most tightly conned transverse components (maximum Ft value),
and Ez,max is thus expected to be maximized for waveguide geometries that maximize Ft .
This behavior also explains the conclusion illustrated in Fig. 5.1(a), namely, that maximizing
F does not necessarily result in maximizing γ .
The increasing Fz with decreasing w eectively allows tighter total electric eld con-
nement than the purely transverse elds allow. This behavior is equivalent to the eect
of tightening the focus spot of light by using cylindrical vector beams or radially polarized
light beams, which exhibit strong longitudinal eld components in the vicinity of the focus
[230, 203]. These longitudinal elds are considerably narrower than the transverse elds, al-
lowing the total electric eld spot size to decrease below the Abbe diraction limit. However
the longitudinal extent of the area where large longitudinal electric elds can be observed
is relatively small, as they only exist near the focal point. In the case of Si waveguides, the
same concept of enhanced electric eld focusing applies, except that instead of a more tightly
focused spot size, a more tightly conned guided mode is achieved due to the presence of
a strong longitudinal component of the eld. Note too the the area of strong longitudinal
Figure 5.2: Variation of γ with the waveguide geometry. The Si waveguide considered had
air top-cladding, and λ = 1.55 µm. (a) Dimension dependence for the QTE mode, where
a maximum nonlinearity of 430 W−1 m−1 occurs for a 250 nm × 330 nm waveguide. (b)
Dimension dependence for the QTM mode, where a maximum nonlinearity of 340 W−1 m−1
occurs for a 300 nm × 320 nm waveguide.
electric elds can be made arbitrary long with by lengthening the waveguide, due to the
translational invariance of the waveguide itself.
5.2 Mapping the Geometrical-Dependence of γ

Calculation of a contour map of γ for realistic waveguide geometries is useful for providing
insight into the practical range of waveguide geometries for realizing strong nonlinear eects
on chip. Here, such a map is constructed for γ , both for the QTE and QTM modes. In
the calculation, it was assumed that the waveguide is oriented along the [11̄0] axis, which
is the most common orientation in practical applications due the convenience or orienting
the waveguide along a cleaving plane. The next chapter will describe how this description
changes when the waveguide orientation with respect to the principal axes of the Si crystal,
or the mode polarization, varies (see Ch. 6).

The results of the calculations, presented in Fig. 5.2, show that for the QTE mode, for
waveguide heights between 220 nm 300 nm, γ is largely dependent on the waveguide width,
w [see Fig. 5.2(a)]. This dependence can be easily understood by noting that in this case
the mode is predominantly polarized along the x-axis. Similarly, for the QTM mode, for
heights between 220 nm 300 nm, γ is highly sensitive to the waveguide height, h, since the
light is now predominantly polarized along the y -axis [see Fig. 5.2(b)]. As the transverse
size of the waveguide becomes larger, SLE becomes less prominent, and the trend in γ is
mostly determined by F . As a result, the nonlinear coecient for both the QTE and QTM
modes follows a similar trend. It is also observed that the maximum value of γ for the
QTE mode is larger than that for the QTM mode. This behavior is explained by the fact
that the evanescent part of the eld of the QTE mode mostly samples the air-cladding, on
either side of the waveguide core, while the evanescent eld of the QTM mode samples the
air top-cladding and the SiO2 buried-oxide substrate, resulting in weaker connement (via
a smaller index-contrast) and thus a smaller γ . The crystallographic orientation of Si with
respect to the electric elds of the QTM mode also plays a part in the decreased γ , as will
be discussed in the next chapter.

6 Directionally Anisotropic Si Nanowires
6.1 Introduction
One of the properties of the waveguide nonlinear coecient revealed by Eq. (3.7) and Eq.
(3.8) is that γ is dependent on the orientation of the waveguide with respect to the principal
axes of the Si crystal. More specically, whereas the guided modes depend only on the
transverse prole of the index of refraction, the susceptibility tensor in Eq. (3.7) depends on
the coordinate axes in which the integral in this equation is calculated, causing a materials-
dependent variation in waveguide nonlinearity. Consequently, γ depends on the on-chip
waveguide orientation and mode polarization, a relation which that is analyzed in detail in
this section.
In this chapter, the work of the Sec. 3.1 is extended by showing unique nonlinear proper-
ties and applications made possible by the tensor properties of Si's third order susceptibility.
Specically, it is found that waveguide orientation with respect to the Si-crystallographic
axes and electric eld distribution has a substantial eect the nonlinear properties of Si
waveguides. In fact, devices which take advantage of the anisotropic Si nonlinearity have
recently been proposed, including an optical isolator [231], and a device designed for cavity-
enhanced quasi-phase-matching [232, 233, 177], based on either the Kerr or Raman eect.
Here it is demonstrated that γ can vary by as much as 10% with waveguide orientation,
allowing one to achieve periodic variations in γ by means of ring-like structures or cascaded
80
CHAPTER 6. DIRECTIONALLY ANISOTROPIC SI NANOWIRES 81
waveguide bends (CWBs). Polarization also plays a strong role in nonlinearity not only due
to modal connement, but also due to interactions between electric eld components and
the tensor elements of χ(3) .
6.2 Dependence of Si Crystallographic Orientation on

Waveguide γ
Si possesses an intrinsic anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity due to its crystalline structure [234,
235], and as a result, the nonlinear optical properties of bulk Si are described rigorously by
a third-order (electronic) susceptibility tensor, χ(3) , instead of a single scalar parameter. As
described in Ch. 3, the tensor elements of χ(3) are determined by rst employing symmetry
(3) (3)
considerations to reduce χ(3) to 2 independent elements (χ1111 and χ1122 ) [129, 136] the ratio
of which has been experimentally measured [234]. Therefore, χ(3) can be completely char-
acterized using knowledge of one element. The eective susceptibility, Γ, can then obtained
via Eq. (3.7) where all components of the electric eld are included in this formulation,
including the longitudinal eld [200] and the anisotropy in optical nonlinearity through χ(3) .
From Eq. (3.7), Eq. (3.8) can be used to nd the eective nonlinearity γ , where slow-light-
enhancement via vg is also explicitly accounted for, an important phenomenon in strongly
dispersive photonic guiding structures [236].
One important property of Γ revealed by Eq. (3.7) is its dependence on waveguide
orientation with respect to the principal axes of the Si crystal, in contrast to the linear
guided modes which depend only on the scalar value of n. Consider the case of Si waveguides
fabricated on a (001)-oriented wafer, the standard orientation of SOI crystalline Si device

Figure 6.1: (a) Initial orientation of Si waveguide with respect to Si crystal. (b) γ vs. Si
crystal rotation (about the [001] direction) for a 220 nm × 500 nm waveguide and λ = 1.55
(3) (3)
µm. χ1111 /χ1122 = 2, 2.15, 2.36, 2.75 and 3 is considered.
layers. Using a typical 220 nm × 500 nm (height × width) Si waveguide with air top-
cladding, γ is calculated for dierent waveguide orientations. The waveguide is initially
oriented with its x- and z -axis along the [110] and [11̄0] crystal direction, respectively [see
Fig. 6.1(a)]; the waveguide is then rotated by π -radians about the [001] direction. There are
diering experimental reports pertaining to the degree of nonlinear anisotropy exhibited by

(3) (3)
Si [234, 237, 238], therefore, ratios of χ1111 /χ1122 between 2 3 are considered for comparison
(a ratio equal to 3 indicates no anisotropy).
The results of this calculation shows a cyclical change in γ with respect to the angle
(3) (3) (3) (3)
of rotation, for all χ1111 /χ1122 except χ1111 /χ1122 = 3 [Fig. 6.1(b)], as expected. For the
(3) (3)
remainder of this chapter, it is assumed that χ1111 /χ1122 ≈ 2.36 as measured in Ref. [234].
For this anisotropy, the maximum (minimum) nonlinearity occurs for θ = mπ/2 (θ = (2m +
1)π/4), where m is an integer. The dierence in γ between maximum (γMAX ∼ 320 W−1 m−1 )
and minimum (γMIN ∼ 290 W−1 m−1 ) is ∼ 10 % in this case.

6.2.1 Nonlinear Kerr Grating

A rotation about the [001] direction is of practical importance, since this rotation is equivalent
to changing the orientation of the waveguide on the chip surface. For example, a continuous
θ = π rotation is equivalent to a 180◦ circular bend on chip, leading to a two-sinusoidal-cycle
variation in γ [Fig. 6.1(b)]. This result also indicates that light propagating through fully
circular path or a ring resonator [Fig. 6.2(a)] experiences a sinusoidal variation in γ , which
generates a nonlinear index grating in the presence of a pump, with a period, ΛNL , given by
ΛNL = πR/2 (6.1)
with R the radius of the ring. This nonlinear optical grating can also be obtained through
cascaded bends, [see Fig. 6.2(b)], in which case Eq. (6.1) would still hold, provided that the
bends are circular. The grating length in the case of CWBs (LG,cwb ) is simply determined by
the number of bends, NB , via LG,cwb = πRNB . Note that this analysis ignores the inuence
of the waveguide bending on the eld prole of the optical modes and, implicitly, on γ .
Detailed calculations, however, show that for bends with R > 5 µm this eect changes γ by
< 1%.
For the case of a ring resonator, the equivalent grating length is dependent on resonator
quality factor, Q, via the photon lifetime. In this case, the number of round trips in the ring
gives the equivalent unfolded optical grating length. More specically, LG,ring = N RLC =
Qλ0 /(2πNg ) where NR = Qλ0 /(2πNg LC ) is the number of round trips for a mode in the ring
prior to a 1/e intensity decrease [239], LC is the ring circumference, Ng is the group index
of the mode traveling in the ring, and λ0 the free-space wavelength. As an example, a ring
Figure 6.2: Nonlinear optical grating on-chip via (a) ring resonator or (b) CWBs. (c)
∆n (as dened in inset) experienced by the pump formed by nonlinear grating versus Pp .
A copropagating signal would experience 2∆n due to cross-phase-modulation [2]. (d) ∆β
compensated by a grating formed in a ring resonator or CWBs of varying R. Points 1, 2,
3 give examples of phase matching with a 100 mW pump at λp = 1.55 µm and a R, λs ,
and λi of (1) 20.7-, 2-, 1.265-µm; (2) 100-, 1.714-, 1.415-µm; and (3) 900-, 1.601-, 1.502-µm,
respectively.
with R = 30 µm, Q = 45,000, and Ng = 3.48 at λ0 = 1.512 µm [240] would give LG = 3.11
mm and ΛNL = 47.12 µm, producing a long-period grating with 66 periods spaced by ΛL .
To produce a shorter period grating, a smaller ring R would be required. In fact, very small
rings (R < 1.5 µm) with high Q values have been realized on the SOI platform [241], where
these rings would form gratings with ΛNL ∼ 2 µm.
The grating strength is directly related to the waveguide peak power, Pp . The grating
index dierential (∆n) can be estimated by n = cPp (γMAX − γMIN )/ω . As an example, Fig.
6.2(c) shows the resulting ∆n as a function of pump Pp . Typical peak pulsed-pump powers
in Si waveguide experiments vary from 1 W to 1000 W; these result in values of n between
10−5 and 10−2 . Gratings with this ∆n can be useful for on-chip signal processing applications
such as switching, routing, mode coupling, or phase-matching [242, 243]. Note that for the
case of high Pp , a more detailed analysis that includes nonlinear absorption and dispersion
would be required to determine the precise n along the unfolded grating.
As an example of a specic application of such a non-linear grating, consider (degenerate)
four-wave-mixing (FWM) in a 220 nm × 500 nm, L = 0.5 cm Si waveguide. Finite element
calculations show that such a waveguide is highly dispersive near λ = 1.55 µm with a large
group-velocity dispersion coecient of β2 ≈ −3.3 ps2 m−1 , which limits the FWM conversion
bandwidth (∆λ). In fact, for this value of β2 , ∆λ ≈ [λ4 /(πc2β2 L)]1/2 ≈ 35 nm in the small-
gain regime [140]. Consider also a pump (λp = 1.55 µm) and signal (λs = 1.8 µm), chosen
to be separated spectrally (250 nm) by >> the conversion bandwidth. Energy conservation
shows that the resulting idler is at λi = (2λ−1 −1 −1

p − λs ) = 1.361 µm.
In the absence of any grating the nonlinear interaction is not phasematched, with the
corresponding phase mismatch, ∆β , being expressed by ∆β = 2γPp − (2βp − βs − βi ) where
βp,s,i is the propagation constant of the pump, signal, and idler, respectively. Assuming
Pp = 100 mW [140], ∆β = 0.0834 µm−1 . However, a nonlinear grating can compensate this
phase mismatch if ΛNL = 2π/|∆β|, which is satised if ΛNL = 75.37 µm, and realizable by a
ring resonator or CWBs with R = 47.98 µm. More detail on using ring resonators or cascaded
waveguide bends for the purpose of enhancing the conversion eciency of specic discrete
FWM products, is discussed in Ch. 7, which is devoted entirely to quasi-phase-matched
FWM.
6.2.2 Dependence of Waveguide Orientation on γ

In order to explore the implications of the variation in γ with the orientation of the crystal
axis, the specic case of waveguides fabricated on a [001] wafer is considered. This orientation
is particularly relevant since SOI wafers are typically fabricated with such a [001] orientation.
On such a wafer, Si waveguides are usually aligned such that their input facet is perpendicular
to the [11̄0] axis, since the waveguide facet is then oriented along a cleaving plane, as shown
in Fig. 6.1(a).
To begin, a 220 nm × 500 nm waveguide with air top-cladding is considered. γ is then
calculated for dierent orientations of the waveguide with respect to the principal axes of the
Si crystal. The results of these calculations are summarized in Fig. 6.3. The waveguide is
initially oriented so as its axial direction coincides with the [11̄0] crystal direction and x-axis
is along the [110] crystal direction [see Fig. 4(a)], and then rotated by π -radians about two
relevant choice axes. Rotation (θ1 ) about the y -axis ([001]) and rotation (θ2 ) about the z -axis
([11̄0]) results in a cyclical change in γ with respect to the angle of rotation (Fig. 6.3), where
θ1 and θ2 are dened according to Fig. 6.1(a). This change is largest for a rotation about
the [11̄0] axis where it is found that γ varies between ∼ 335 W−1 m−1 and ∼ 295 W−1 m−1 ,
a dierence of ∼ 14% between the maximum and minimum values. A 10% change is also
observed between the maximum and minimum values of γ for a rotation about the [001] axis.
6.2.3 Dependence of Waveguide Polarization on γ

A rotation about the z -axis by θ2 = π/2, results in a smaller nonlinearity for the QTE mode,
which is particularly relevant since the QTM mode (dominantly polarized in the y -direction)
Figure 6.3: Variation of γ vs. Si crystal rotation for a 250 nm × 500 nm Si waveguide with
air top-cladding and λ = 1.55 µm. Both a rotation about the y-axis (0 ≤ θ2 ≤ π ) and z -axis
(0 ≤ θ1 ≤ π ) is shown.
and QTE mode (dominantly polarized in the x-direction) have dominant transverse electric
elds that are oriented orthogonal (π/2-radians) to each other. This suggests that the QTM
mode experiences a smaller γ than the QTE mode for the waveguide geometry considered
here not only because of reduced modal connement, but also because of the orientation of
the transverse electric elds with respect to the Si crystallographic orientation (Et oriented
predominantly along [001]). To explore this further, a Si waveguide with a square cross
section is designed, completely surrounded by SiO2 . This structure is symmetric about the
x- and y -axis [Fig 6.4(a) inset], and thus the QTE and QTM modes are related to each other
through a π/2 rotation [Fig. 6.4(b)].
For a (scalar) diagonal third-order susceptibility, γ would be identical for these two
degenerate modes. However, given a tensor third-order susceptibility and the result in Fig.
6.3, it is expected for γ to be smaller for the QTM mode than for the QTE mode due to the
transverse electric eld orientation with respect to the Si crystallographic orientation. This
conclusion is conrmed by sweeping the waveguide dimension D (w = h = D) and plotting
γ for each case, both for the QTE and QTM mode.
The results of these calculations are shown in Fig. 6.4(a), where γ for the QTE mode
(γTE ) is larger than γ for the QTM mode (γTM ). At about D = 330 nm both γTE and γTM
peak, however γTE peaks at 260 W−1 m−1 and γTM peaks at 250 W−1 m−1 . A similar trend is
followed for D > 330 nm. For D < 330 nm, the values of γTE and γTM become closer since
both modes become increasingly less conned as the modes are pushed out into the cladding
with decreasing cross sectional area. This reduces the overlap between the Si core and the
electric eld components of each mode, and thus decreases the inuence of χ(3) on γTE and
γTM .
Figure 6.4: (a) Dierence in γ between the QTE and QTM modes for symmetric Si waveg-
uides of dierent D clad by SiO2 and λ = 1.55 µm. The QTM mode experiences a smaller γ
than the QTE mode due to the crystalline properties of Si. The inset shows the orientation
of the Si waveguide with respect to the Si crystal. (b) Electric eld proles for the Ex (Ey )
and Ez /j components of the QTE (QTM) mode.
From Fig. 6.3 it is also observed that a rotation about the z -axis by θ2 = π/4 results in
an increased nonlinearity as compared to θ2 = 0. A mode polarized such that the dominant

transverse electric elds point along θ2 = π/4 can be constructed through the superposition of
the fundamental QTE mode, which is predominantly polarized along the x-axis [Fig. 6.5(a)],
and QTM mode, which is predominantly polarized along y -axis [Fig. 6.5(b)]. This composite
mode, as shown in Fig. 6.5(c), results in a transverse electric eld that predominantly point
along θ2 = π/4 within the waveguide core. Such a composite mode could be realized in
practice by exciting a Si waveguide with light polarized along θ2 = π/4, which would excite
(for the geometry considered here) the QTE mode and QTM mode in equal ratios, resulting
in a mode ∼ linearly polarized along θ2 = π/4 [244, 245, 235].
To understand the nonlinearity experienced by such a mode, a dimensional sweep is again
performed, this time of the parameter D while tracking γ . The result is shown as the dotted-
blue-curve in Fig. 6.4(a), which demonstrates a substantial increase in γ for D-values which
coincide with geometries that support highly conned modes. In fact, for D = 330 nm, γ
for this composite mode is equal to 285 W−1 m−1 , a substantial increase over the previously
determined γTE = 260 W−1 m−1 .
Figure 6.5: Mode transverse electric eld polarization (arrows) and transverse eld amplitude
(contour plot) for the (a) QTE mode (dominantly polarized along the x-axis) (b) QTM mode
(dominantly polarized along the y -axis), and (c) a mode constructed by the simultaneous
equal excitation of the QTE mode and QTM mode (dominantly polarized along θ2 = π/4)
A rotation about the [001] axis is also relevant since the Si device layers on standard SOI
wafers are typically cut such that the top surface of the wafer is the (001) Si crystal plane,
while Si waveguides are usually fabricated along the [11̄0] axis, motivated by the convenience
of having the waveguide facet oriented along a cleaving plane. In the calculations, a rotation
of the crystal about the [001] axis is equivalent to changing the orientation of the waveguide
on chip. For example, a θ1 = 0 rotation is equivalent to a waveguide pointed along the [11̄0]
axis, and a θ1 = π/2 rotation is equivalent to a waveguide pointed along the [110] axis. This
analysis also indicates that for standard (001)-facing SOI chips a maximum nonlinearity is
obtained for θ1 = mπ/2, where m is an integer. As a result, light propagating through a
waveguide oriented along the [11̄0] and [110] orthogonal directions, both of which are cleaving
planes, experience the same value of γ .
On the other hand, the nonlinearity for this case is minimized by rotations of θ1 =
(2m + 1)π/4, and the dierence between the maximum (∼ 320 W−1 m−1 ) and minimum (∼
290 W−1 m−1 ) γ is ∼ 10%. This result is further veried by calculating γ for the range
of Si waveguide geometries analyzed in Fig. 5.1. The result (Fig. 6.6) indicates a ∼ 10%
change in γ as expected from Fig. 6.3. This represents a signicant variation, especially when
designing devices which rely on the Kerr-induced nonlinear phase shift [246]. As one example,
for devices which rely on achieving a π -phase shift, such as all-optical Mach-Zehnder-based
modulators and switches, a 10% dierence in the nonlinear phase shift per unit length results
in a ∼ 10% change in arm length, which can amount to a dierence of millimeters in design
for a given pump power [246].
Equally important, unlike the case of of photonic crystal waveguides [236], this large
variation of γ is achieved in waveguides with uniform cross-sections, and therefore does not
require complex fabrication techniques. Figure 6.3 presents the results corresponding to the
QTE mode; however, note that the same sinusoidal variation of γ for rotation about the
[001] axis is observed for the QTM mode as well.
Figure 6.6: Dependence of γ on the waveguide width, for a waveguide with h = 250 nm, and
λ = 1.55 µm, pointed along the [11̄0] axis, and the same waveguide rotated about the y -axis
by θ1 = π/4.
6.2.4 Optimization of Nonlinear Ring Resonators

For applications requiring the largest nonlinear interaction possible, ring resonators are com-
monly used for Si nonlinear devices on chip due in part to the high optical power that
accumulates in the ring for wavelengths which match the resonant condition [247]. The
power enhancement factors possible in high-Q rings allow strong nonlinear interactions to be
achieved in a relatively small device and at moderate pump powers. In this connection, many
nonlinear all-optical devices have been demonstrated, including wavelength converters [145],
switches [158, 117], and modulators [248]. These nonlinear devices rely on a combination of
engineering the free-spectral-range through ring circumference, and Q, to facilitate the re-
quired bandwidth and resonant peak spacing specications of the device. At the same time it
is required that these devices exhibit the highest nonlinearity possible for a given circumfer-
ence for best eciency. Here, the nonlinearity of ring resonators with dierent circumference
proles is characterized by comparing each resonator's average eective nonlinearity, γ̄ring ,
via
H
γ(r)ds
γ̄ring = C
, (6.2)
LC
which is dened as the closed-path line-integral of the direction-dependent (r -dependent)
γ(r) around the circumference, C , of the resonator, normalized to LC . Considering a circular
ring resonator with 220 nm × 500 nm cross-sectional dimensions with air top-cladding and
a radius R = 100 µm, γ̄ring is found to be 305 W−1 m−1 , while γ for a straight waveguide
oriented along [11̄0] using the same waveguide cross-sectional geometry and cladding results
in γ = 320 W−1 m−1 .
Based on these nding, an optimized solution for the maximum ring resonator nonlin-
earity for a given LC is apparent; from Fig. 6.3, it is clear that maximizing the ratio of
circumference oriented along the [11̄0] and/or [110] direction would maximized the nonlin-
earity. In order to minimize the proportion of the circumference which does not align along
[11̄0] or [110] axes, the resonator can be closed with two half-circles approaching the smallest
possible radius for negligible bending loss. It has been shown that waveguides have minimal
loss for bend radii > 5 µm [84], so the bend radius of each half-circle is set to 5 µm. The
half circles are then connected by straight waveguide sections oriented along the [11̄0] axis,
making a resonator that resembles a narrow racetrack resonator [Fig. 6.7(b)].
For the sake of comparison, a new resonator is designed such that the geometrical path-
length of the resonator and coupling condition remain the same compared to the R =
Figure 6.7: Optimizing the eective nonlinearity in ring resonators. (a) Circular ring res-
onator (b) Increasing γ̄ring by increasing the length of the circumference of the resonator
oriented along the favorable [11̄0] or [110] axes. The input coupler is circular such that the
same coupling condition is achieved for both the ring resonator and straight bus waveguide.
100 µm circular ring analyzed in the previous paragraph. To achieve the same coupling
condition, instead of a straight waveguide evanescently feeding the circular ring, a circularly
bent waveguide (with a 100 µm bend radius) is designed which evanescently feeds the straight
segment of the resonator. The length of the straight segments, X , is calculated according to
a very simple expression,
X = π (R1 − R2 ) , (6.3)
where R1 is the radius of the initial ring (100 µm) and R2 is the bend radius of the waveguide
bends (5 µm) making up the new resonator. Therefore X = 298.451 µm, and the value
of for this resonator is 319.25 W−1 m−1 , only a 0.75 W−1 m−1 decrease in nonlinearity
compared to its value corresponding to the [11̄0] and [110] directions, and an increase of
∼ 15 W−1 m−1 compared to the circular ring resonator. When designing Si devices based
on ring resonators or other structures which rely on optical nonlinearities, it is desirable to
maximize the nonlinearity experienced by propagating signals; with knowledge of how the
nonlinearity changes with waveguide and crystallographic orientation, and polarization, one
can engineer nonlinear devices for improved performance.

7 Quasi-Phase-Matched Four-Wave-Mixing in
Si Waveguides
7.1 Introduction
Four-wave-mixing (FWM) in silicon (Si) nanowire waveguides (Si waveguides) has been in-
vestigated as a potential means to alleviate the ever-increasing demand on electronics in
future information networks, by facilitating all-optical signal processing near the C-band
(1530 nm - 1565 nm) [249, 140, 198]. Signicant work has been reported in this area, includ-
ing wavelength conversion [249, 140, 198, 250], format conversion [153], signal regeneration
[157], signal multicasting [251], time-division-demultiplexing [252, 253], modulation instabil-
ity [254], and tunable delays [255]; however, FWM in Si waveguides is also starting to emerge
as a promising building block for a diverse set of applications well outside the C-band.
One new and particularly exciting arena for Si photonics is the mid-infrared (mid-IR) (by
which we here include from 2 µm - 20 µm) [256], where Si is nearly an ideal nonlinear mate-
rial due to its strong third-order susceptibility and lack of parasitic two-photon-absorption
(TPA) and subsequent free-carrier-absorption (FCA) above λ = 2200 nm. In fact, in just the
past few years, FWM [169, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263], self-phase-modulation [133],
supercontinuum generation [138], modulation instability [261, 138], and optical paramet-
ric ampliers [169] and oscillators [264], have been experimentally demonstrated at mid-IR
94
CHAPTER 7. QPM-FWM IN SI WAVEGUIDES 95
wavelengths in Si waveguides. These results show that Si waveguides can be employed for
applications in mid-IR systems, including those for chemical sensing and free-space commu-
nications [256]. These and other systems applications can be enhanced via an eective means
to interconvert between the telecommunications bands and mid-IR wavelengths, opening the
possibility of leveraging the large device and materials infrastructure at C-band wavelengths
[258, 262, 263, 265]. In this connection, FWM provides a useful approach to interconvert
between these two spectrally distant frequency domains (Fig. 7.1).
Figure 7.1: Illustration of how telecom-based sources, detectors, and components can be
connected to mid-IR system via FWM wavelength up- and down-converters. Examples of
mid-IR applications include free-space communication, absorption spectroscopy, and on-chip
sensing. For FWM to be used over such large spectral spans, dispersion needs to be carefully
considered and managed. One example of an enabling dispersion management technique, is
quasi-phase-matching.
Four-wave mixing is a parametric process sensitive to the relative phase between co-
propagating waves, as described in Sec. 3.3.1, hence its wavelength conversion bandwidth
is intrinsically limited by dispersion [2]. Si waveguides exhibit tight modal connement as

a result of the high-index contrast inherent to the Si-on-insulator (SOI) platform. This
contrast both enhances the eective nonlinearity and induces substantial waveguide disper-
sion [135, 129, 137, 136], which has a detrimental eect on the FWM conversion band-
width and eectively limits the spectral reach of FWM. It has been shown that disper-
sion can be controlled through the Si waveguide geometry, and engineered such that the
waveguide-dispersion contribution becomes the main component of the overall device dis-
persion [135, 129, 137, 136]. This approach has facilitated broadband, continuously tunable
FWM devices [259], however, given the high sensitivity of these devices to Si waveguide
geometry, and the recent interest in converting signals over spectral spans larger than 1000
nm, it is important to seek alternative solutions.
In this chapter, quasi-phase-matched (QPM) FWM (QPM-FWM) is explored as a way
of managing dispersion to enable ecient wavelength conversion over large spectral spans.
Two main QPM-FWM approaches are explored in this chapter. One is an extension of Ch.
6 which showed that nonlinear Kerr grating could be formed in ring resonators or cascaded
waveguide bends; these gratings can be used as a means for QPM. Another approach is by
sinusoidally modulating the width of a Si waveguide (termed w-modulation) so as to reduce
the relative phase mismatch between co-propagating waves [266], and consequently increase
the FWM conversion eciency (CE) for signals outside the conversion bandwidth of uniform
waveguides (Fig. 7.2). QPM-FWM is experimentally demonstrated via a w-modulated Si
waveguide fabricated using CMOS-compatible processes, typically by amounts of only tens
of nanometers, and record a 12 dB CE enhancement for signals covering a 15 nm sideband,
more than 100 nm beyond the edge of the conversion bandwidth.
This chapter also describes how the rigorous FWM model presented in Sec. 3.3.1 can be
adapted to include w-modulation for QPM-FWM processes, and through this modeling, it
is determined that the modulation strength and grating period can be used as an eective
means to tune the bandwidth and spectral location of the enhanced sideband. The model
is further used to theoretically explore devices designed to facilitate wavelength conversion
between the C-band and mid-IR, including devices based on the superposition of sinusoidal
gratings, and devices used in conjunction with zero-dispersion-wavelength (ZDWL) pumping
Figure 7.2: Illustration of QPM FWM in a w-modulated Si waveguide. Input pump and
signal waves interact via FWM to generate an idler. The conversion eciency of this FWM
process is enhanced for specic wavelengths due to the periodic modulation of waveguide
parameters.
7.2 QPM-FWM Principle of Operation

Consider degenerate FWM, in which case conservation of energy and momentum can be
expressed as Eq. (3.18) and Eq. (3.21) respectively, where ωp,s,i and βp,s,i are the respective
pump/signal/idler angular frequency and propagation constant, respectively, with ∆βlin the
linear wave vector mismatch and ∆β the net wave vector mismatch. The term 2γPp repre-
sents the nonlinear wave vector shift originating from the Kerr eect, where γ is the eective
nonlinearity and Pp the pump power. Note that it is assumed that the powers of the signal
and idler are much smaller than Pp (the undepleted pump approximation), such that the
Kerr nonlinear shift of the wave vector mismatch is entirely induced by the pump beam.
Frequency dispersion results in a phase mismatch, which generally increases as the pump,
signal, and idler become increasingly separated spectrally. In the presence of a grating, the
phase matching condition becomes
2γPp − (2βp − βs − βi ) − G = 0 (7.1)
where
2πm
G= (7.2)
Λ
is the reciprocal lattice vector, m is an integer, and Λ is the grating period. Thus, the
FWM phase mismatch can be compensated by a grating via QPM [266, 243, 267] when
G = ∆β ,such as a refractive index modulation of period
2πm
Λ= . (7.3)
∆β
There have been a number of theoretical investigations centered on how to realize QPM
with such a periodic modulation in Si waveguides, including using the intrinsic anisotropic
nonlinearity of Si itself to induce a nonlinear index grating in a ring resonator or cascaded
waveguide bends [177, 268], or using w-modulation to periodically modulate waveguide prop-
erties responsible for the linear and nonlinear phase-shifts [141, 269]. QPM χ(2) processes
in Si has also been explored by using periodic regions of high-stress Si3 N4 to both induce a
χ(2) nonlinearity in Si by breaking its centro-symmetry, while also serving to phase match
the corresponding second-order processes such as dierence frequency generation [270] and
second-harmonic generation [271]. Here, QPM-FWM is explored through a modulation
formed via the anisotropic nonlinearity of Si, as illustrated in Fig. 6.2, and through sinu-
soidal w-modulation, as illustrated in Fig. 7.2.
7.3 QPM-FWM via Anisotropic Si Nonlinearity

The FWM conversion eciency improvement resulting from QPM using a nonlinear Kerr
grating formed by propagating a pump through a ring resonator or a series of cascaded
waveguide bends (CWBs) (Fig. 6.2), can be illustrated by performing a rigorous FWM
calculation which takes into account Kerr eects, two-photon absorption (TPA), free carrier
absorption (FCA), free carrier dispersion, and linear loss. This was done by using the
modeling method outlined in Sec. 3.3.1. The nonlinear grating was taken into account
through the anisotropy of Γ. The anisotropy of Γ was incorporated into the FWM by
utilizing Eq. (3.28)(3.30), however replacing Γklmn as dened in Eq. (3.31), with Γklmn (θy )
with θy = θ as dened in Fig. 6.1. Assuming the coordinate system in Fig. 6.1(a), and
assuming that χ(3) is originally oriented such that the y -axis is along [001], and waveguide
axis along [11̄0], also as shown in Fig. 6.1(a), then Γklmn (θy ) can be found by,
.
e∗k (r⊥ ; ωk ) · χ(3) (θy )..el (r⊥ ; ωl )e∗m (r⊥ ; ωm )en (r⊥ ; ωn )dA
R
A0 A0
Γklmn (θy ) = , (7.4)
ζk ζl ζm ζn
(3)
where ζklmn is dened by Eq. (3.32) and the elements of χ(3) (θy ) are χκλµν , which are found
(3)
from the original tensor elements of χ(3) , χklmn , by
(3)
X (3)
χκλµν (θy ) = Rκk Rλl Rµm Rνn χklmn , (7.5)
klmn
where R is the rotation matrix. Generally, R(θx , θy , θz ) can be expressed through Rodrigues'
formula [272], and for rotations only about the y -axis, which is the only rotation considered
here, θx = θz = 0, then R(θx , θy , θz ) = R(0, θy , 0) = Ry (θy ), which results in

cos(θ ) 0 sin(θ )
y y

Ry (θy ) = 0 . (7.6)

0 1

− sin(θy ) 0 cos(θy ).

Therefore, as the mode propagates along a structure with bends or arbitrary rotations about
the y -axis ([001] Si crystal axis), the eect of crystal-orientation on the FWM process can
0
be rigorously included by dening a vector ẑ which is oriented along the waveguide axis as
0
it bends. θy can be determined by nding θy = cos−1 (ẑ · ẑ) where ẑ is oriented along [11̄0].
0 0
A new x̂ and ŷ then also need to be dened, where here only y -rotations are considered, so
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ŷ = ŷ , and x̂ is perpendicular to both ŷ and ẑ (x̂ = ŷ × ẑ ) such that the new transverse
0 0 0
position vector, r⊥ = x̂ + ŷ is dened, as shown in Fig. 7.3. Finally, (3.28)(3.30) can be
0 0 0 0
used to model FWM for the case of CWBs, with new unit vectors x̂ , ŷ , ẑ , new r⊥ , and
Γklmn (θy ) as dened be Eq. (7.4). This analysis holds as long as the bend radius is large
enough to have negligible eect on the modal properties compared to a straight waveguide,
which should be the case for waveguide bends with R > 5 µm [84].
Assuming CWBs with R = 47.98 µm and the same Si waveguide geometry as analyzed
in Sec. 6.2 (220 nm × 500 nm waveguide with air top-cladding), and assuming a 1 dB/cm
propagation loss and a 0.5 ns free-carrier-lifetime, the conversion eciency is calculated
(dened as the ratio between the output idler power and input probe power) for a pump
(λp = 1.55 µm), signal, and idler with coupled powers of 100-, 1- and 0-mW respectively for
varying λs . This was accomplished be solving with FWM model presented in 3.3.1, including
the modications introduced in this section. The equations were solved using a fourth-order
Runge-Kutta method.
Figure 7.3: General geometric parameters of cascaded-waveguide-bends used for QPM-

0 0 0
FWM, including the denitions for x̂ , ŷ , and ẑ
The result is shown in Fig. 7.3, where a sharp conversion eciency enhancement of
∼> 12 dB is shown near the target probe wavelength. The inset of Fig. 7.3 quanties how
the conversion eciency enhancement varies with pump power, demonstrating that the 100
mW pump power used here is near the limit for the maximum enhancement achievable for
the CW case at these wavelengths due to optical limiting, which saturates the optical power
as a result of TPA and FCA [129]. This limiting can be ameliorated by moving λp > 2.2 µm
to avoid TPA altogether [169], leading to higher conversion eciency.
It is also possible to realize this QPM-FWM technique using ring-resonators, as suggested
in Sec. 6.2.1 [232, 177], however the use of a ring, as compared to CWBs, can pose a practical
challenge since all signals would additionally have to meet the ring resonance condition.
Figure 6.2(d) shows that a nonlinear grating formed with a ring resonator or CWBs of
varying R can compensate a wide range of ∆β 's, illustrating the broad wavelength range
that can be phase matched using this method. Further, this approach is not restricted to
periodic variations of γ , but can be employed to achieve virtually any pre-designed spatial
Figure 7.4: Conversion eciency for varying λs in CWBs with R = 47.98 µm and λp = 1.55
µm. A ∼ 12 dB enhancement occurs for λs = 1.78 µm. The inset plots the conversion
eciency enhancement as a function of pump power
0
dependence γ = γ(z ), such as an apodized grating, limited by bending loss.
7.4 QPM-FWM via w-Modulation

Another method for realizing QPM for FWM, is to modulate the width of a Si waveguide
periodically (Fig. 7.2), and in doing so, modulate phase-sensitive waveguide parameters
including nonlinearity and dispersion. For such a structure, the Si waveguide width can be
described along the length of the waveguide (z -direction) by

2πz
w(z) = ∆w sin (7.7)
Λ
where ∆w = (w2 − w1 )/2, wDC = (w1 + w2 )/2 and w1,2 are the minimum and maximum
width, as illustrated in Fig. 7.5(e).

7.4.1 Using w-Modulation to Compensate Phase Mismatch

QPM via w-modulation has similarities to an index-grating, except the variation in the index
of refraction amounts to a variation in eective-index (ne ) resulting from the modulated
waveguide cross-section. However, w-modulation induces more complex grating eects than
a simple index grating, in that the modulated cross-section also strongly modulates the
optical connement factor and consequently the overlap between the optical mode and Si
core. This modulated overlap results in a modulation of both the grating nonlinearity, γ ,
and the strength of TPA, which, through the nonlinear Kerr phase shift and free-carrier-
dispersion eects, respectively, results in an additional contribution to the net modulated
phase-shift with period Λ. In addition, the periodic change in the Si waveguide geometry
results in signicant modulation of all higher-order-dispersion terms, thus leading to complex
dynamics of the interacting optical beams.
As an example of the magnitude of Λ needed to phase match a practical device, consider
a 250 nm × 600 nm (height × width) Si waveguide with SiO2 cladding. For a 20 dBm pump
at λp = 1543 nm, and signal at λs = 1687 nm, FWM results in an idler at λi = 1421 nm,
with a corresponding ∆β = 6280 m−1 . As can be determined by Eq. (7.1), the main part
of this large wave vector mismatch originates from the linear mismatch ∆βlin , with the Kerr
nonlinear shift constituting ∼ 1% of the total ∆β . Using Eq. (7.3), this phase mismatch can
be compensated (in a rst-order process, m = 1) by using a grating of period Λ = 1 mm.
7.4.2 Width-Modulated Waveguides: Design and Fabrication

QPM-FWM is experimentally investigated using the example presented at the end of Sec.
7.4.1, by fabricating both a w-modulated waveguide, and a straight waveguide for a control
comparison. Both devices have a height of 250 nm and a length of 5 mm and are fabricated
on an SOI wafer with 3 µm buried-oxide layer at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at
Brookhaven National Laboratories. The straight waveguide has a constant width of 600 nm,
while the w-modulated waveguide has a sinusoidally varying width as dened by Eq. (7.7),
with ∆w = 30 nm, wDC = 600 nm, and Λ = 1 mm. Both devices have a parabolic inverse-
taper mode-converter at each facet, as illustrated in Fig. 7.5(e), for ecient coupling between
the on-chip devices and input/output lensed-tapered bers (LTFs) [27]. The waveguides
were dened via 100 keV e-beam lithography using a ∼ 110 nm thick HSQ negative e-beam
resist, and subsequent inductively-coupled-plasma Si etching using HBr/Cl chemistry, using
the fabrication methods described in Ch. 2. The HSQ hardmask was left in place, and
the devices were covered with 3 µm of SiO2 via plasma-enhanced-chemical-vapor-deposition
(PECVD). Finally, the devices were cleaved near the tip of the inverse-tapers, which were
fabricated according to Sec. 2.4.2. No post-processing procedures were attempted to smooth
the waveguide sidewalls.
Figure 7.5(e) shows a sketch of the w-modulated device, including the inverse-taper
mode-converters. For λ = 1 mm, 5 periods t along the 5-mm waveguide. Figures 7.5(a)
and 7.5(b) show typical scanning-electron-microscope (SEM) images of the maximum and
minimum waveguide widths taken from a separate sample without top-cladding. These
images illustrate the relatively moderate ∆w, compared to the total Si waveguide width,
needed for this device; this is especially important for reducing back-reections associated
with a strong periodic perturbation. Figure 7.5(c) shows a tilted-view SEM image of a typical
fabricated device, exhibiting smooth sidewalls, and Fig. 7.5(d) shows a cross-section of the
tip of the inverse-taper, revealing undercutting as a result of inadvertently over-etching the

Figure 7.5: (a) SEM image of the narrowest region. (b) SEM image of the widest region. (c)
SEM image of Si waveguide sidewall. (d) SEM of the tip of the inverse-taper. (e) Sketch of
a w-modulated Si waveguide.
SOI device layer.
7.4.3 QPM-FWM Experimental Setup

The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 7.6. The continuous-wave (CW) pump is formed
from a C-band source tuned to 1543 nm and amplied with an erbium-doped ber-amplier
(EDFA). Either a tunable C-band, or U/L-band laser serves as the CW signal. The state-of-
polarization (SOP) of the pump and signal are controlled by polarization controllers (PCs),
and multiplexed onto one ber by a wavelength-division-multiplexer (WDM). The output
from the WDM is passed through a linear polarizer to ensure both the pump and signal
share the same SOP. The pump and probe beams are then launched on-chip using an LTF,
while another PC is used to selectively excite either the quasi-transverse-electric (QTE) or
the quasi-transverse-magnetic (QTM) guided mode of the Si waveguide. Another LTF is
used to collect the output light, and the output optical beam is sent to an optical spectrum
analyzer (OSA). A 20 dB tap and 10 dB tap are used to monitor the launch power and
output power, respectively.

Figure 7.6: FWM experimental set-up: PC = polarization controller, WDM = wavelength

division multiplexer, LP = linear polarizer, LTF = lensed tapered ber, PRX = power meter,
OSA = optical spectrum analyzer.
7.4.4 Experimental Demonstration of QPM-FWM in a Si Waveg-

uide
FWM in the straight waveguide is investigated rst. The pump and signal power immediately
before the input LTF was measured to be 22.4 dBm and 5 dBm, respectively, and the ber-
to-ber insertion loss was measured to be 10.1 dB. By switching the pump on and o, it
was found that the nonlinear loss originating from TPA and FCA was ∼0.8 dB for the
power levels used. The remaining contributions to the 10.1 dB insertion loss are estimated
to be ∼ 3 dB/facet of coupling loss (based on nite-dierence time-domain studies of the
coupler geometry) and ∼ 6.6 dB/cm of propagation loss. The signal is tuned between 1544
nm and 1690 nm, generating an idler between 1419 nm and 1541 nm. Figure 7.7(a) shows
the output spectra for varying λs and xed λp = 1543 nm. As the signal is detuned to
longer wavelengths, the generated idler becomes weaker, a direct result of increased phase
mismatch between the pump, signal, and idler for larger detuning. The CE for dierent signal
wavelengths, measured under the convention that the CE is equal to the ratio between the
output idler power (Pi,out ) and the output signal power (Ps,out ) [249, 140, 250, 251, 258, 260,
263],
Pi,out
CE = (7.8)
Ps,out
is shown in Fig. 7.8(a). The result shows a 3-dB conversion bandwidth of ∼70 nm, with a
peak CE of −25.5 dB. The CE outside the conversion bandwidth drops signicantly, i.e. for
λs = 1676 nm, the CE is found to be ∼ −48 dB.
In the case of the w-modulated Si waveguide, the input pump and signal powers are
measured to be the same as those for the straight device. The ber-to-ber insertion loss
was measured to be 10.4 dB, indicating the w-modulated device has similar losses to the
straight device. As in the uniform Si waveguide FWM experiment, λs is again tuned between
1544 nm and 1690 nm and the resulting idlers are shown in Fig. 7.7(b). The spectra follow
the same trend as the straight Si waveguide; however, for signal wavelengths near 1660 nm,
an increase in the power of the generated idler is observed. This enhancement is a result of
QPM originating from w-modulation, and occurs near signal wavelengths calculated in Sec.
7.4.1, for λ = 1 mm. Dierences between the calculated and measured signal wavelengths
occur primarily due to deviations from a perfectly rectangular cross-section for the fabricated
devices as a result of inadvertently over-etching the SOI device layer [as shown in Fig. 7.5(d)],
thus aecting the dispersion parameters.
Figure 7.8(a) shows the measured CE, exhibiting an enhanced sideband centered around
100 nm beyond the edge of the 3-dB CE bandwidth, at λs = 1660 nm, with a peak CE
of ∼ −38 dB. In fact, the enhanced sideband is relatively broadband itself, with a 3-dB
bandwidth of ∼ 15 nm, which is more than sucient to support FWM of multiple dense
Figure 7.7: FWM spectra for λp = 1543 nm and varying λs , in the case of (a) a 250 nm ×
600 nm uniform waveguide and (b) a w-modulated waveguide with wDC = 600 nm, ∆w = 30
nm, Λ = 1 mm, h = 250 nm. The background noise level is raised for C-band wavelengths
since a dierent laser was used to access this spectral region, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The
generated idlers also interact with the pump via cascaded FWM to produce higher order
idlers, which can be observed as artifacts on the red side of the pump.
WDM channels at high data-rates. Figure 7.8(b) shows a plot of the CE enhancement,
calculated by nding the ratio between the measured CE exhibited by the w-modulated to
the straight Si waveguide, revealing that a maximum CE enhancement of ∼ 12 dB is observed
for λs = 1668 nm.

Figure 7.8: (a) Experimentally determined FWM CE spectrum demonstrating a CE en-

hancement near λ = 1668 nm for the w-modulated device compared to the straight device.
(b) Measured CE enhancement as a function of signal wavelength, indicating a ∼ 12 dB
enhancement for λs = 1668 nm. (b) is found by taking the dierence (in dB) between the
two curves in (a).
7.5 Theoretical analysis of QPM-FWM via w-Modulation
7.5.1 QPM-FWM w-Modulation Model

The QPM-FWM nonlinear process is modeled using a set of coupled nonlinear Schrodinger
equations, which takes into account TPA, FCA, free-carrier-dispersion (FCD), linear losses,
and Kerr eects, based on the methods outlined in [198, 129, 136, 199]. The three coupled
equations can be described by the rapidly varying beam amplitudes, which change with
propagation as shown in Eq. (3.28), with the slowly varying amplitudes ap , as , and ai ,
described by Eq. (3.29) for the pump, and Eq. (3.30) for the probe and idler. For w-
modulated Si waveguides, the width of the waveguide varies with z , w(z), according to Eq.
(7.7). Therefore, the FWM process in w-modulated waveguides can be rigorously modeled by
including a z -dependence in Eq. (3.29) and Eq. (3.30), for all terms that vary with waveguide
width. In this way, the varying waveguide properties with waveguide geometry are accounted
for as the waves propagates along z . For completeness, the dierential equations describing
the slowly varying amplitudes are written here, with explicit z -dependence for parameters
that are aected by waveguide geometry:
dap cκp (z) ωκp (z) FC

αpin + αpFC(z) ap + i

=− δn (z)ap
dz 2nvg,p (z) nvg,p (z) p
(7.9)
3ωp Γpppp (z) 2
+i |ap | ap
40 A0 (z)vg,p (z) vg,p (z)
for the pump, and
das,i cκs,i (z) in + αFC (z) a + i ωκs,i (z) δnFC (z)a

=− αs,i s,i s,i s,i
dz 2nvg,(s,i) (z) nvg,(s,i) (z) s,i

3ωs,i Γ(s,i)pp(s,i) (z)
+i 2 2
|ap | as,i (7.10)
40 A0 (z)vg,(s,i) (z) vg,p (z)
3ωi,s Γ(s,i)p(i,s)p (z) 2 ∗ i(∆βlin (z))
+i ap ai,s e
40 A0 (z)vg,(i,s) (z) vg,p (z)
for the signal or idler. In these amplitude equations, κ is the connement factor, αin the
intrinsic loss coecient, A0 = h × w the area of the Si waveguide core, vg the group velocity,
∆βlin ≈ −β2,p ∆ω 2 −(1/12)β4,p ∆ω 4 the linear phase mismatch, and ∆ω = |ωp −ωs | = |ωp −ωi |
the frequency spacing between the pump and signal or pump and idler. The dispersion
coecients β2 and β4 are the coecients used in the Taylor expansion of β about the pump
frequency, found via Eq. (3.26).
The introduction of TPA-induced free-carriers results in a change in the material index
of Si due to the free-carrier plasma dispersion eect, and an increase in absorptive loss
via FCA. The carrier-induced index change can be described through a modied Drude
model t to experimental data [273] given by Eq. (3.14), which assumes an equal number
of electrons and holes, and the FCA loss is given by [273] Eq. (3.15). The TPA-induced
free-carrier-density in steady-state operation can be found from Eq. (3.14), assuming that
the majority of carriers are generated by degenerate TPA, and is given by Eq. (3.12). Γklmn ,
the eective susceptibility, is found by Eq. (3.31) and Eq. (3.32). The indices k, l, m, n refer
to i, p, s where appropriate in Eq. (7.9), Eq. (7.10) and Eq. (3.31). The eective nonlinear
coecient, γ , is related to the eective susceptibility by Eq. (3.8). Note that all electric eld
components are included in the waveguide modes in Eq. (3.31), including the longitudinal
component [200].
7.5.2 Variation of FWM Parameters with Waveguide Width

It is clear from Eq. (3.8) that Γklmn is sensitive to waveguide geometry by means of the nor-
malized overlap between the waveguide modes and the Si core, and therefore w-modulation
aects both the Kerr eect and TPA (and similarly FCA and FCD). As Eq. (7.9) and Eq.
(7.10) show, this periodic z -dependence of the main parameters of the Si waveguide, and in
particular that of Γklmn , provides the basic mechanism by which the linear component of the
wave vector mismatch, ∆βlin , is compensated by the grating. Note, however, that the linear
grating-induced coupling between the co-propagating beams is not included in this model,
as this wave interaction is not well phase-matched for the grating parameters used in this
study.
Material dispersion for Si and SiO2 is included through Sellmeier equations [274], and
mode proles and eective indices are determined through the nite element method (FEM).
Dispersion parameters are found by tting ne (λ), as determined by FEM, to 7th -order poly-
nomials, and then calculating the corresponding derivatives with respect to frequency. To
take into account sinusoidal w-modulation, parameters sensitive to the waveguide geometry
are functionalized, including A0 , vg , Γ, and βi (i = 2, 4), to polynomials as a function of
waveguide width. Once these parameters are functionalized to w, they can then be easily
written as a function of z for any w-modulation prole w(z) and included in the model
described in this section. Note that when ∆w ∼ w or Λ ∼ λ, it becomes inaccurate to
describe the optical modes of w-modulated waveguides by adiabatically varying modes, and
wave back-scattering eects can no longer be neglected. Instead, one must include the full
Bloch modes of the deeply-modulated grating [236]. As a side note, one possible advan-
tage of deeply-modulated gratings is that the corresponding interacting Bloch modes can be
engineered to have low group-velocities, resulting in a slow-light-enhanced FWM processes.
This fact suggests that strongly w-modulated Si waveguides merit additional theoretical and
experimental investigations; however for the remainder of this chapter rigorous exploration
of the weakly modulated regime to achieve ecient FWM is investigated.
As an example of how waveguide parameters change with waveguide width, Fig. 6 shows
γ(z) and β2,p (z), for w(z) described by Eq. (2) with wDC = 600 nm, ∆w = 30 nm, Λ = 1 mm,
λ = 1543 nm, and h = 250 nm. For this particular modulation γ varies by ∼ 14 W−1 m−1
and β2,p by ∼ 1.82 × 10−25 s2 m−1 , demonstrating that even for modest width variations,
important waveguide parameters can vary substantially. For example, in this case, β2 varies
by ∼ 30% for a width variation of ∼ 5%, suggesting that strong gratings can be formed by
weak w-modulations.
7.5.3 Modeling QPM-FWM with Experimental Parameters

The method described in Sec. 7.5.1 is used to model QPM-FWM, where the system of
equations are solved using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with adaptive grid spacing.
Figure 7.9: Variation of two important waveguide parameters, β2 and γ , along the length of
a w-modulated waveguide for wDC = 600 nm, ∆w = 30 nm, and Λ = 1 mm.
For the calculations, the same parameters as in the experiment were used, including an
estimated coupled pump and signal power of 19.4 dBm and 2 dBm, respectively, intrinsic
loss of 6.6 dB/cm, h = 250 nm, and λp = 1543 nm. It is assumed that τc = 3 ns based on
values measured for devices with similar geometry and claddings [130]. λs is varied between
1543 nm and 1690 nm, while the CE for both the w-modulated and uniform waveguide is
calculated. In order to accurately capture the dependence of the waveguide parameters on
width for the actual device tested, the cross-sectional prole outlined in the Fig. 7.10(a)
inset is used in the calculations to approximate the complex sidewall prole measured in
the SEM image of the taper cross-section [Fig. 7.5(d)], resulting from the Si over-etch. The
group-velocity dispersion parameter, Dλ , for this waveguide prole is calculated by
2πc
Dλ = − β2 (7.11)
λ2
and the resulting dispersion curve is shown in Fig. 7.10(a). For λp = 1543, the waveguide
considerably dispersive, with Dλ = 265 ps nm−1 km−1 .
Figure 7.10(b) shows the result of the modeled QPM FWM process, and matches well with
the experimentally determined plot in Fig. 7.8(a), including a calculated CE enhancement of

∼ 12 dB, verifying that the CE enhancement observed experimentally is a result of QPM. The
nonlinear loss originating from TPA and FCA is also found to be 0.5 dB, which matches well
with the nonlinear loss of 0.8 dB determined experimentally. The relatively low nonlinear
loss indicates that higher conversion eciencies can be obtained with increased pump powers.
The inset of Fig. 7.10(b) shows the calculated peak conversion eciency in the enhanced
sideband for varying coupled pump powers. Saturation of the CE can be observed, however,
for increasing pump power, the corresponding asymptotic value is close to −20 dB. The CE
of the enhanced sideband can be further increased by pumping above λp = 2200 nm to avoid
TPA, using a p-i-n structure to sweep away free-carriers [130], or pumping closer to a ZDWL.
Some of the dierences between the calculated and measured CE spectrum are likely
attributed to the material dispersion of the PECVD SiO2 cladding (a Sellmeier equation for
thermal oxide is used to approximate the material dispersion of the PECVD oxide [274]),
especially since the measured PECVD oxide n at 1550 nm was slightly dierent than that
of silica, as mentioned in Sec. 2.1.2. Fabrication variations in the waveguide cross-sectional
prole also contributed to variation between the calculated and measured CE spectrum.
In general, however, the good comparison between the experimental and theoretical results
allows for the model to be used in the following sections to explore the impact of important
grating parameters, and accurately describe the performance of devices designed to facilitate
FWM over larger spectral spans.
7.5.4 w-Modulation Parameter-Dependence on CE Spectrum

To better understand the dependence of the CE spectrum on the free parameters of Eq.
(7.7), additional calculations are performed for varying ∆w and Λ. A constant wDC of 600
Figure 7.10: (a) Wavelength dependence of Dλ of the waveguide used in the calculations, for
w = 600 nm. The inset shows a diagram of the cross-section used to approximate the sidewall
etched prole observed in Fig. 7.5(d). (b) Calculated CE spectrum for the straight (black
line), and w-modulated waveguide case (red line), indicating a ∼ 12 dB CE enhancement
for the w-modulated device. Results match well with the measured CE spectrum shown in
Fig. 7.8(a). The inset shows how the peak CE of the enhanced sideband varies with pump
power.
nm, height of 250 nm, waveguide length of 5 mm, and λp = 1543 nm, is used along with
rectangular cross-sectional geometry instead of the complex geometry used to t the experi-
mental results. Figure 7.11(a) shows how the CE spectrum varies with Λ for ∆w = 30 nm. It
is seen that as Λ increases, the phase-matched signal wavelength is tuned closer to the pump,
since , as can be seen in Eq. (7.10). In fact, relatively broadband CE enhancement over
the uniform waveguide case can be realized for long periodicities, illustrating the potential
of using w-modulated QPM to enable broadband wavelength conversion.
Calculations for Λ = 1 mm and varying ∆w are also performed. It is seen that as the
modulation becomes stronger a spectral splitting in the CE enhanced sideband occurs, which
is explained by the fact that for the w-modulated grating the waveguide width oscillates
between w1 and w2 . These two waveguide widths are associated with dierent ∆β for a given
set of wavelengths; therefore, dierent λs are compensated by the grating for a given Λ. This
can be veried by looking at the ∆w = 20 nm Λ = 1 mm case, as shown in Fig. 7.11(c),

Figure 7.11: Calculated CE spectrum for (a) ∆w = 30 nm, and Λ varying between 0 and 5
mm (oset 10 dB for clarity), (b) Λ = 1 mm, and varying ∆w between 0 and 60 nm (oset
10 dB for clarity). (c) A more detailed plot of the enhanced sideband for the ∆w = 20 nm
Λ = 1 mm case, demonstrating spectral splitting.
and calculating the phase-matched λs for both w1 and w2 . It is found that for w1 = 580
nm, ∆β = 2π/Λ is satised for λs = 1670 nm, while for w2 = 620 nm, λs = 1700 nm is
compensated. In both cases, the compensated signal wavelength corresponds perfectly with
the peaks of the bifurcated sideband, as shown in Fig. 7.11(c). This splitting characteristic
serves as a way to both increase the sideband bandwidth, and to tune the location of the
peak CE enhancement.
7.5.5 QPM FWM Between C-band and Mid-IR

The experiment described in Sec. 7.4.4 demonstrates enhanced discrete wavelength conver-
sion over 250 nm, between an idler near 1544 nm and a signal near 1690 nm, as determined
by the geometry of the w-modulated Si waveguide, and λp . These targeted wavelengths were
selected based on considerations of observing the FWM CE enhanced sideband with labo-
ratory components available; however, this QPM approach can facilitate FWM over even
larger spectral spans. In order to illustrate the feasibility of applying QPM in w-modulated
Si waveguides over broad spectral ranges in future devices, the model described in Sec. 7.5.1
is again used to explore FWM wavelength conversion between the C-band and mid-IR.
A waveguide geometry of 250 nm × 500 nm is chosen, which supports a single QTE
mode both in the C-band and near λ = 2000 nm, as shown by the Fig. 7.12(a) insets. A w-
modulated grating with wDC = 500 nm, ∆w = 15 nm, and Λ = 280 µm is employed, which
phase-matches FWM between λi = 1558 nm and λs = 2000 nm for a pump wavelength
of λp = 1750 nm, as described by Eq. (3.18). Propagation loss of 3 dB/cm is assumed,
along with a coupled pump power of 20 dBm. Figure 7.12(a) plots the resulting FWM CE
spectrum, both on the blue and red side of the pump, and shows a peak CE of ∼ −20 dB
within the conversion bandwidth. A CE sideband enhanced by as much as 23 dB is observed
near 2000 nm and 1558 nm, allowing as high as −30 dB FWM CE between the C-band and
mid-IR region.
Figure 7.12: (a) FWM CE spectrum for a uniform 250 nm × 500 nm Si waveguide (black
line), and a w-modulated Si waveguide with wDC = 500 nm, ∆w = 15 nm, and λ = 280
µm (red line). A CE enhancement is observed between the C-band and mid-IR, for the
w-modulated device. Insets show the Ex component of the fundamental QTE mode, for
a wavelength of 1550 nm and 2000 nm, demonstrating that the mode is conned at both
wavelengths. (b) Enhanced sideband on both the blue- and red-side of the pump, for dierent
∆w, showing the ability to tune the sideband bandwidth. Spectra are oset by 10 dB for
clarity.
The bandwidth of the enhanced spectral region is about 31 nm (18 nm) on the red (blue)
side of the pump, characterized as 3-dB down from the CE at the center of the sideband. The
sideband bandwidth can be tuned via ∆w, and Fig. 7.12(b) shows the enhanced sidebands
for various ∆w (plots are oset by 10 dB for clarity). These results illustrate that the
bandwidth for ∆w = 15 nm (31 nm on the red-side of the pump) is more than a factor of 3
greater than that of ∆w = 5 nm (9 nm on the red-side of the pump) as a result of spectral
splitting, while also maintaining the peak sideband CE within 3 dB, at the expense of a ∼
9 dB decrease in the CE at the center of the sideband.
An alternate approach to tune the spectral shape of the enhanced region, is by using a
grating prole, w(z), formed by a linear superposition of N sinusoidal gratings of dierent
periodicity, λn (n = 0, 1, ... N ), and weights cn :
"N #
1 X 2πz
w(z) = sin + wDC (7.12)
N n=1 Λn
In order to provide relatively at enhancement, a superposition of N = 10 sinusoidal gratings
is used, each with cn = 10 nm, and each with a periodicity targeting specic idler wavelengths
throughout the C-band as listed in Table 7.1. The corresponding w(z) is plotted in the Fig.
7.13 inset, and the resulting CE spectrum of this w-modulated Si waveguide is shown in Fig.
7.13, demonstrating discrete wavelength conversion over as much as 518 nm between the
entire C-band and the spectral region between 1986 nm and 2048 nm. Note that an increase
of the CE of more than 20 dB can be easily achieved by using this approach. The atness
of the enhanced sideband can be further optimized by including more sinusoidal gratings
in the superposition, and through ne control over each cn coecient and λn in order to
compensate for the complex CE response of a straight Si waveguide, or by implementing a

Table 7.1: Grating periodicities and weights used to for the grating prole plotted in
Fig. 7.13. The table also shows the idler and signal wavelengths targeted by each
periodicity.
n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cn (nm) 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Λn (µm) 194 204 216 229 232 243 257 273 290 308
λi (nm) 1530 1534 1539 1543 1544 1548 1552 1556 1561 1565
λs (nm) 2044 2037 2028 2021 2019 2013 2006 1999 1991 1985
chirped or apodized grating prole.
Figure 7.13: The FWM CE spectrum resulting from both a uniform 250 nm × 500 nm Si
waveguide (black line), and a w-modulated device with w(z) formed by a superposition of
sinusoidal w-modulations. A CE enhancement is observed across the entire C-band. The
inset shows the waveguide width, w(z), formed by using Eq. 10, with cn (n = 1, 2, ... 10) =
10 nm, wDC = 500 nm, and λn as listed in Table 1.
Generally, complex proles w(z) can be fabricated, such as chirped or apodized grat-
ings, in order to control the spectral shape of the enhancement region. In fact, this QPM
technique is not limited only to w-modulation, but can be extended to any grating that mod-
ulates phase sensitive waveguide parameters described in Sec. 7.5.2. For example, binary or
sinusoidal gratings formed by modulating the waveguide cladding [109, 91], or modulating
the waveguide height [275] could also be used for QPM FWM.
7.5.6 QPM-FWM and Zero-Dispersion-Wavelength Pumping

The experimental and theoretical analysis to this point has focused on realizing QPM in the
case of high dispersion; however, another approach to extending the conversion bandwidth
of FWM is to pump near a ZDWL in order to minimize phase mismatch over a large spectral
range. This technique relies on controlling the spectral location of the ZDWL through careful
design of the waveguide geometry. It is therefore important to understand if near-ZDWL-
pumping can be used simultaneously with w-modulation to both maintain the broadband
standard conversion-bandwidth, and realize an enhanced sideband beyond the edge of the
conversion bandwidth.
A structure similar to that in [259] is considered, which is a waveguide with a 300 nm
height and 30 nm slab height, completely clad with SiO2 . A waveguide width of 1000 nm
is chosen, which positions the ZDWL near 1855 nm. In Ref. [259] is has been shown
that the broadband conversion bandwidth is highly sensitive to waveguide cross-section,
so it is important to nd a weaker perturbation grating that facilitates QPM while also
largely maintaining the same cross-section. This weak perturbation is achieved by using
slab-modulation [93]. In particular, the same 300 nm × 1000 nm waveguide with 30 nm slab
height is used, except with a sinusoidally varied slab width (wslab ), as shown in the inset of
Fig. 7.14. In this case, the slab width prole can be dened using a similar equation as Eq.
(7.7), however with ∆wslab and wDC,slab referring to the denitions in the inset of Fig. 7.14.
Figure 7.14 shows the result of modeling this waveguide structure, with ∆wslab = 100 nm,
Figure 7.14: The CE spectrum for a 300 nm × 1000 nm Si waveguide with 30 nm slab height
and ∆wslab = 100 nm,wDC,slab = 600 nm, and Λ = 3000 µm. An enhanced CE sideband is
present due to QPM, and facilitates FWM over more than 1000 nm, between 1625 nm and
2695 nm. The peak CE of the sideband is −25 dB, only 8 dB below the CE near the pump
wavelength. The inset shows a schematic illustrating a slab-modulated Si waveguide.
wDC,slab = 600 nm, and Λ = 3000 µm. A coupled pump power of 20 dBm is assumed, along
with a 1.5 cm waveguide length, 1 dB/cm propagation loss, λp = 2025 nm, and τc = 3 ns.
Since such a broad wavelength range is considered in this example, ∆βlin is calculated directly
for use in Eq. (7.10) from βp,s,i = 2πne (λp,s,i )/λp,s,i and Eq. (3.21), where ne (λp,s,i ) is found
from FEM calculations, instead of using a Taylor expansion about the pump wavelength.
The results of these calculations show that the straight waveguide exhibits a broad con-
version bandwidth of 600 nm a direct result of pumping near the ZDWL and is similar
to the results reported in [260]. For the slab-modulated structure, a broadband conversion
bandwidth of ∼ 620 nm is found, with a more than 20 dB enhanced CE for a signal wave-
length centered at 2695 nm, 310 nm from the edge of the standard conversion bandwidth.
The enhanced sideband has a bandwidth of 32 nm (11 nm) on the red (blue) side of the
pump. In these calculations the linear material absorption was not included; however, it is
noted that it is important to consider the device cladding as the pump, signal, and idler
wavelengths move further into the mid-IR. For wavelengths larger than 2600 nm, modal
absorption exceeds 2 dB/cm for the SOI platform [276], however other material platforms
allow low loss modes beyond 2600 nm, including Si-on-sapphire (1200 nm to 4400 nm),
Si-on-nitride (1200 nm to 6700 nm), and even suspended Si (1200 nm to 8000 nm) [276].
In general, the results in this section show that no matter how broad the standard
conversion bandwidth is made by engineering the waveguide dispersion, w-modulation can
be employed to further extend the spectral reach of FWM via QPM.
7.5.7 QPM-FWM Seeded by Modulation Instability

For a given waveguide geometry, ∆β between the pump signal and idler tends to increase with
increased spectral separation. However for a discrete bandwidth detuned from the pump,
∆β can again approach zero. This has been described as a modulation instability (MI)
process, phased-matched by fourth-order dispersion [261, 269, 265]. This eect is considered
by selecting a typical oxide-clad Si waveguide with dimensions of 300 nm × 700 nm × 30
nm (height × width × slab-height) and calculate ∆β as a function of signal wavelength (λs )
for a pump wavelength (λp ) of 1550 nm, as shown in Fig. 7.15(c). It is observed that as λs
is detuned from λp , ∆β tends to increase, except for a discrete band near λs = 2300 nm.
This spectral region of low ∆β leads to a band of ecient FWM.
This is veried by employing the modeling method described in Sec. 7.5 for dierent
waveguide widths between 700 nm and 800 nm and for a coupled pump power of 100 mW,
propagation loss of 1 dB/cm, carrier lifetime of 3 ns, and waveguide length of 1 cm. A
sharp increase in the CE for discrete sidebands as a result of MI is observed. Note also that
the spectral location of the sideband can be readily tuned via waveguide geometry (in this
case width), and also that the peak sideband CE is equal to the peak pump-centered CE,
indicating near-zero ∆β within this discrete sideband. However it is also observed that the
sideband bandwidth decreases as it is engineered to be further detuned from the pump. This
can be addressed through QPM via slab-modulation, dened as modulating the extent of
the thin slab extending from the Si waveguide, as shown in Fig. 7.15(c). It is important to
consider slab-modulation in this case, in contrast to w-modulation, due to the fact that a
weak perturbation is needed in order to maintain the geometry-sensitive MI sideband.
Figure 7.15: (a) ∆β for various λs considering a 300 nm × 700 nm × 30 nm Si waveguide.

Horizontal lines show signal wavelengths phase-matched by a Λ = 1 mm and Λ = 5 mm
grating. (b) Spectral location of the MI sideband for various waveguide widths between 700
nm and 800 nm showing tunability of the sideband. (c) Schematic dening the parameters
for slab-modulation. (d) FWM CE spectrum in a (black line) uniform waveguide, and a slab-
modulated waveguide for (red line) Λ = 1 mm and (blue line) Λ = 5 mm, demonstrating
how the MI sideband can seed further sidebands via QPM. For Λ = 1 mm, higher-order
sidebands can be observed [m > 1 in (1)]. The phase-matched points in (a), p1p6, can be
observed in (d).
To investigate how slab-modulation can be used in conjunction with MI, consider Fig.
7.15(a), which also displays several lines indicating the degree of ∆β compensated by a grat-
ing of Λ = 1 mm and Λ = 5 mm (as calculated from Eq. (7.3) for m = 1). Both periodicities
show three crossings, indicating the potential of this type of grating to phase-match multi-
ple signal wavelengths. Figure 7.15(d) shows the resulting calculation of employing a slab
modulation with ∆wslab = 100 nm, wDC,slab = 600 nm, and Λ = 1 mm and Λ = 5 mm, as
dened in the Fig. 7.15(c). It is seen that the enhanced sidebands, labeled points p1p6, as
expected from Fig. 7.15(a), as well as higher-order sidebands (m > 1) seeded from phase-
matching to the relatively narrow MI sideband for the Λ = 1 mm case. In fact, the enhanced
sidebands seeded from MI extend more than 800 nm beyond the edge of the pump-centered
3-dB bandwidth exhibiting CE enhancements exceeding 30 dB. For the Λ = 5 mm case, the
QPM sidebands are in close proximity to the MI sideband, and therefore act to broaden the
MI sideband in a similar process to [269]. In this case, an increase in the MI sideband 3-dB
bandwidth from 6.7 nm to 50.7 nm is observed, a factor of ∼ 7.5 increase at the expense of
a 6.5 dB peak-CE-decrease, while still exhibiting a relatively high CE of −22 dB.
7.6 Conclusions
The work presented in this chapter shows that QPM-FWM by means of Kerr gratings and
w-modulation can be used as an enabling technology for realizing ecient wavelength con-
version over large spectral spans, including FWM between the telecommunications bands
and mid-IR wavelengths. As shown in Sec. 7.5 w-modulation can be used in conjunction
with other techniques for achieving a broad conversion bandwidth, such as ZDWL-pumping,
and therefore serves as a means to extend the spectral reach of FWM. Mid-IR applications,
including free-space communication and chemical sensing, can use QPM to interconvert
between the mid-IR and telecommunications bands, and leverage telecom sources and detec-
tors in mid-IR systems for increased performance, while eliminating the need for expensive
detector [277] and transmitter mid-IR solutions.

8 All-Optical Signal Processing via XPM
8.1 XPM Wavelength Conversion of RZ-OOK Data
8.1.1 Introduction
With the growing need for transparent processing methods to alleviate latency, -power, -
footprint, -cost, and -component-count disadvantages of conventional optical-electrical-optical
(OEO) conversion, wavelength conversion (WC) techniques represent a possible building
block for future all-optical network architectures, especially with continued upgrades of dense
wavelength-division-multiplexed (DWDM) networks [278]. In optical cross-connects (OXCs),
WC can be used in conjunction with wavelength-channel routing schemes to eciently route
high-speed data streams, and to minimize channel contention entirely in the optical domain
[279, 280]. WC may also nd use over long-haul networks where the ber span can change
from one favorable to DWDM C-band (1530-1565 nm) transmission, to one detrimental to
DWDM transmission such as dispersion-shifted-ber (DSF) where four-wave-mixing (FWM)
becomes a serious impairment. In such cases, re-assignment of C-band channels to L-band
(1565-1610 nm) can minimize FWM over DSF. Additionally, it has been shown that the
re-assignment of some wavelength channels to an unequally-spaced channel plan can help
mitigate C-band transmission diculties over DSF [281].
All-optical solutions to wavelength conversion have been heavily researched; however
recent advances in which WC is performed in deeply-scaled Si waveguides on the Silicon-
125
CHAPTER 8. ALL-OPTICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING VIA XPM 126
on-insulator (SOI) platform have been of particular interest [282, 283, 284, 198, 285, 286,
129, 228, 287, 2, 248]. Nonlinear all-optical processing in Si allows the potential for bit-rate
transparency owing to the ultra-fast electronic response of χ(3) , and a number of nonlinear all-
optical applications have been demonstrated on-chip, including modulation [248], switching
[158, 288], optical regeneration [289], multicasting [290], super continuum generation [159,
291], amplication [168, 171], and format conversion [154].
One common method for achieving WC in nanowires is through partially-degenerate
FWM, which as described in Sec. 3.3.1 of this thesis, is a nonlinear parametric process
where two pump photons and one probe photon interact in a nonlinear medium to create
a new photon at a unique frequency (termed the idler) in accordance with conservation of
energy. Ecient FWM relies on net-zero phase-mismatch between the interacting optical
waves, and includes the inuence of the power-dependent nonlinear phase-shifts due to self-
phase modulation (SPM) and cross-phase modulation (XPM). Optimizing phase-matching
to achieve high FWM conversion eciency and bandwidth has motivated extensive research
in engineering the dispersion of nanowires through its waveguide geometry [285, 137, 135,
292]. While optimized phase-matching may achieve the highest conversion eciency and
bandwidth, the optimal waveguide will not necessarily coincide with the optimal dimensions
for maximum γ [292].
WC via XPM (XPM-WC) is an alternative technique to FWM where a comparatively
powerful pump wave induces a χ(3) -mediated phase shift on a co-propagating probe wave,
thus broadening the probe's spectrum and eectively generating new wavelengths [2]. A
lter is then used to convert the XPM-induced phase modulation to amplitude modulation.
This nonlinear process is not constrained by a phase-matching condition (since XPM is in-
trinsically phase-matched) and is thus only limited by spatial and temporal overlaps between
the pump and probe waves.
8.1.2 XPM-WC Principle of Operation
Figure 8.1: XPM-WC principle of operation. The RZ-OOK pump and CW probe co-
propagate in a Si waveguide, causing the spectrum of the probe to broaden when it overlaps
with a "1"-bit of the pump. An XPM-WC lter is then used to select part of the broadened
spectrum, converting the phase modulation due to XPM to amplitude modulation.
XPM is a χ(3) nonlinear (Kerr) eect [129]. The net XPM-induced spectral broadening
of a signal is attributed to a phase-shift due to the Kerr eect, and a competing phase-shift
induced by the free-carrier-dispersion (FCD) eect. FCD is attributed to the free-carriers
(FC) generated by the ultra-fast two-photon absorption (TPA) eect, which also results in
FC absorption (FCA). The principle of operation for XPM-WC is illustrated in Fig. 8.1. A
data-bearing RZ-OOK pulse-train is chosen as the pump source, and the pump and a CW
probe are combined and launched into the Si waveguide. When a pulse is present in the pump
(representing a "1"-bit), the spectrum of the probe broadens due to XPM. A lter can then
be used at the output of the Si waveguide to select some of the newly generated wavelength
components, and to reshape them [293]. When the probe coincides with a "0"-bit (absence of
a pulse) in the pump, no broadening of the probe occurs resulting in no transmission through
the XPM-WC lter (limited by background amplied spontaneous emission (ASE)). Thus,
the XPM-WC lter only passes a signal in the presence of a pump pulse, and the RZ-OOK
data-stream carried by the pump is reproduced at the new wavelength. This eectively
describes pulse carving, where the RZ-OOK pump carves a CW signal at a new frequency
through the process of XPM spectral broadening and detuned spectral ltering.
Figure 8.2: The real part of the Ex and Ey components for the QTE and QTM modes,
showing the higher eld connement associated with the QTE mode compared to the QTM,
which results in higher optical intensity and eective nonlinearity.
8.1.3 Silicon Waveguide used for XPM-WC Demonstration

The device used in the XPM-WC experiments is a Si waveguide with a cross-section of 500
nm × 220 nm (width × height) and a length of ∼ 5 mm, fabricated on a Unibond 200
mm SOI wafer with air top-cladding and a 2-µm-thick buried-oxide (BOX) layer to optically
decouple the waveguide from the Si substrate. The waveguide was fabricated at the IBM
Microelectronics Research Laboratory, and the fabrication procedure has been reported in
[294]. The waveguide has been previously measured to have a propagation loss of ∼ 3 dB/cm
[84], with chip-coupling achieved through an inverse-taper mode adapter both at the input
and output facets of the cleaved chip [129]. The waveguide also has very high group-index
birefringence near λ = 1.55 µm, numerically calculated to be ∼ 0.7, and supports single
quasi-TE (QTE) and quasi-TM (QTM) modes over the entire C-band. The QTE and QTM
modes, modeled at λ = 1.55 µm with a nite-element-method (FEM) mode-solver is shown
in Fig. 8.2. It can be seen that the QTE mode exhibits much higher optical connement,
leading to a higher overlap between the modal electric eld and the Si core resulting in
higher γ compared to the less conned QTM mode. Using the method described in Sec.
3.1.1, including the longitudinal component of the electric eld (Ez ) in the calculation [200],
γ is found to be ∼ 320 W−1 m−1 , or ∼ 5 orders of magnitude larger than that found in
standard ber optic spans (0.001 W−1 m−1 [2]).
8.1.4 Experimental Procedures for XPM-WC Demonstration
Figure 8.3: Experimental set-up: PPG=pulsed-pattern generator, PRBS=pseudo-random

bit sequence, CW=continuous-wave, EDFA=Erbium-doped ber amplier, PC=polarization
controller, LTF=lensed-tapered-ber, OBPF=optical band-pass lter, FBG=ber Bragg
grating, VOA=variable optical attenuator, PRX =receiver power, LNF=low-noise gure,
CR=clock recovery, TIA=transimpedance amplier, ED=error detector
The experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 8.3. The RZ-OOK data-bearing pump was a 10-
GHz sequence of pulses centered at λ = 1553.5 nm with a 2.7% duty cycle, generated with a
commercially available mode-locked laser diode (MLLD) and encoded with a 10-Gb/s, 231 −1
pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS) produced by a pulsed-pattern generator (PPG). The
MLLD was not tunable beyond ±0.5 nm. The probe was a CW signal centered at λ = 1540.1
nm. The wavelength of the probe was established by the ber Bragg grating (FBG) lter,
which was not wavelength-tunable. The signals were separately amplied by Erbium-doped
ber ampliers (EDFAs) and passed through polarization controllers (PCs), before a 50%-
coupler was used to combine the pump and the probe into a single ber. A lensed tapered
ber (LTF) was used to couple the light from the ber into the waveguide through an on-
chip mode adapter [129]. The lensed ber had an anti-reection (AR) coating on the tip and
created a beam with a near-2D-Gaussian spot size of ∼ 2.5 µm FWHM, and with a working
distance of ∼ 14 µm. The waveguide used in the experiment was the same as that described
in the Sec. 8.1.3. The light was coupled o-chip using an identical on-chip mode adapter and
an LTF at the output facet. The Si-chip was followed by an FBG lter, and an optical band-
pass lter (OBPF) that collectively constituted the XPM-WC lter discussed previously.
The remaining components constituted a standard pre-amplied receiver, comprising a low-
noise-gure (LNF) EDFA, another OBPF to eliminate ASE, a power EDFA, and a third
OBPF. The two OBPFs were tuned for maximum transmission of the evaluated signal. The
ltered signal was then split between a clock-recovery (CR) module and a pin-receiver, which
together drove an error-detector (ED) for BER measurements. A variable optical attenuator
(VOA) was used to degrade the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of the received signal
by varying the power (PRX ) input to the pre-amplied receiver. Another VOA was used
immediately before the pin-receiver to maintain the power incident on the detector constant.
Receiver sensitivity measurements were thus carried out by varying the receiver power PRX
and recording the BER.

Figure 8.4: Optical limiting experiment. The output pump power starts to saturate due to
TPA and TPA-induced FCA around 40 mW average input power. The CW probe experiences
no saturation eect for the power levels used.
8.1.5 Optical Limiting and Insertion Loss

The optimal operating power for the pump was determined by conducting a waveguide
transmission experiment. In a Si waveguide, the output power saturates with increasing
input power due to an interplay between TPA and TPA-induced FCA [295, 144, 296]. The
free-carrier lifetime (τc ) of carriers in Si waveguides has been measured to be in a range
of 0.5 ns to 2 ns [297, 298, 299], making the bit-slot at 10 Gb/s much smaller than the
free-carrier lifetime, and thus resulting in intra-pulse carrier accumulation. Both intra- and
inter-pulse carrier accumulations can contribute to FCA. The result of this nonlinear, loss-
induced power limiting eect is the saturation of the power-dependent eective nonlinearity,
γ . Figure 8.4 shows the result of a transmission experiment where the input powers for
both the pump and probe were varied, and the respective output powers recorded. It can
be seen that the CW probe possesses insucient peak power to cause optical limiting over
the range displayed in the plot while the pump shows clear signs of optical limiting near an
average power (Pavg ) of 40 mW. We thus choose Pavg for our experiment to be ∼ 40 mW,
since choosing a lower Pavg value results in a lower eective nonlinearity whereas a higher
Pavg results in a diminished enhancement of the eective nonlinearity as a result of optical
limiting while simultaneously increasing loss to the CW probe through nondegenerate TPA
(ND-TPA)-induced FCA.
Figure 8.5: Signal spectra (OSA resolution bandwidth (RB) = 0.1 Å). Black (top) trace
represents output spectrum, red (bottom) trace represents the launched spectrum. Spectral
notches were due to unused microring lters integrated with the nanowire, and the resonant
wavelengths of the microrings were carefully avoided. The spectra have been oset for clarity.
The total coupling loss for this device can be obtained from the linear regions of Fig. 8.4,
from either the pump or the probe data. From the plot, a total LTF-chip-LTF insertion loss is
found to be ∼ 11 dB. Assuming a propagation loss of ∼ 3 dB/cm (∼ 1.5 dB total propagation
loss for a 5 mm waveguide) and equally distributed coupling losses between the input and
output planes, it is estimated that ∼ 4.75 dB coupling loss/facet is experienced by each the
pump and the probe. The facet coupling loss is attributed to a spot-size mismatch between
a LTF and the on-chip polymer mode adapter, as well as loss due to Fresnel reection at the
air/polymer interface. The total coupling loss could be addressed with a more optimal mode-
adapter design, and/or with the use of index-matched materials or anti-reection coatings.
8.1.6 Demonstration of XPM-WC in a Si Waveguide

The wavelength conversion experiment was performed using a 160 mW CW probe and a pump
with a Pavg of 38 mW, measured after amplication and immediately before the input LTF.
The PCs for both the pump and probe were adjusted such that the launched electric eld
orientation for each beam was parallel to the plane of the Si substrate to ensure excitation
of the QTE mode in the Si waveguide. Once the light was coupled o-chip using a LTF,
the signals were sent through a xed-wavelength ber-Bragg grating (FBG) notch lter,
relative to which the probe carrier wavelength was detuned by ∼ +0.6 nm. The FBG was
used to reject the probe carrier reectively, and the reected probe was dropped through the
third circulator port. The FBG was not specically designed for this experiment and had
to be followed by a thin-lm optical band-pass lter (OBPF) to allow further probe carrier
suppression, creating a more optimal composite lter prole. The −3-dB-bandwidth of this
OBPF was 0.3 nm, and its low-wavelength −3-dB-cut-o was at ∼ 1540 nm.
The measured input and output spectra are shown in Fig. 8.5. Signicant spectral
broadening is present in the pump and the probe due to Kerr-based nonlinear eects such as
self-phase modulation (SPM) and XPM, as well as carrier-induced broadening mechanisms
including TPA, FCA and FCD. The asymmetric broadening of the probe is due to the
FCD eect, as the leading edge of the pump pulse excites free carriers via TPA which
also aects the trailing edge due to FCA. This asymmetric carrier density along the pump
Figure 8.6: Evolution of spectra with increased pump Pavg (OSA RB = 1 Å). The spectra
have been oset for clarity.
pulse temporal prole results in chirp and an asymmetric, broadened spectrum. Spectral
broadening of the probe also occurs due to the Kerr-eect, and pump-induced ND-TPA that
results in cross-absorption modulation (XAM). In the latter eect, a pump photon and a
probe photon together possess enough energy to excite, upon their collective absorption,
free carriers across the Si-bandgap. XAM leads to direct amplitude modulation of the probe
carrier in the presence of a "1"-bit in the pump.
The pump-probe detuning of ∼ 13.5 nm was dictated simultaneously by the MLLD
that operated at 1553.5 nm, which was not wavelength-tunable, and by the FBG, also not
wavelength-tunable. The probe was detuned relative to the XPM-WC lter by +0.6 nm to
suciently suppress the cross-absorption-modulated probe (XAM-probe) such that a clear
eye diagram could be obtained. The power-dependent spectral broadening is illustrated in
Fig. 8.6, where the pump power is varied from 9.7 dBm (9.3 mW) to 18.2 dBm (66.1 mW).
At lower pump powers, the XPM-induced spectral broadening in the probe is predominantly
Figure 8.7: Probe spectra before and after interaction with the composite lter (OSA RB =
0.1 Å). The spectrum after ltering represents the converted probe. The spectra have been
oset for clarity.
due to the Kerr eect, and is observed to be symmetric. However, as the pump power
is increased, the spectral broadening becomes increasingly asymmetric due to FCD, which
becomes increasingly pronounced due to a concomitant increase in free-carrier density.
Figure 8.7 illustrates the conversion process in the spectral domain, which shows an
OSA trace of the XPM-broadened probe, as well as the composite lter (that represents the
product of the transfer functions of all of the lters prior to the detection of the signal),
and the converted probe. The conversion of XPM-induced phase modulation to amplitude
modulation (PM-AM) occurs along the steep edge of the XPM-WC lter transfer function,
while the remaining lters were tuned for maximum transmission of the output signal by
the XPM-WC lter. The lter also simultaneously suppresses the XAM-carrier by > 15
dB. It is also clear from Fig. 8.7 that the converted probe exhibits signicant asymmetry,
demonstrating residual chirp, indicative of partial PM-AM conversion due to the use of
sub-optimal lters.
The eye diagram of the RZ-OOK pump is shown in Fig. 8.8(a), the eye diagram of the
converted probe using the +0.6 nm detuned lter is shown in Fig. 8.8(b), and the inverted eye
diagram characteristic of the XAM-carrier is shown in Fig. 8.8(c), all captured immediately
before the receiver detector using a 10 GHz sampling oscilloscope. The converted probe
demonstrates a clear eye-diagram comparable to the eye diagram of the pump, however the
probe has a dierent pulsewidth. The pulse broadening in the probe is ascribed to interaction
with the external lters, since the total waveguide dispersion is only ∼ 0.015 ps/nm. The
importance of detuning the probe relative to the composite lter is illustrated by capturing
the output signal with the probe tuned to the maximum transmission wavelength of the
composite lter. The resultant polarity-inverted probe [Fig. 8.8(c)] is due to XAM [293],
and represents a competing signal that must be suppressed in XPM-WC.
Since the bit-slot (100 ps) is signicantly smaller than the FC lifetime, which is 500 ps at
best, some pattern-dependence would be expected in the converted probe. However, a direct
observation of the TPA-induced pattern-dependence was precluded by a number of factors.
As XPM-WC required a large (+0.6 nm) probe-lter detuning in the experiment, the power
of the converted probe at the input of the pre-amplied receiver was small at ∼ −30 dBm (∼
1 µW), which resulted in a large signal-spontaneous beat noise due to the addition of ASE
by the receiver EDFAs, which obscured the pattern-dependence in the ONE-rail. A second
factor is convolution with the receiver lters and the RF-response of the sampling module
used for temporal observation of the converted probe, which further obscured the pattern-
dependence. An examination of the baseline pump [Fig. 8.8(b)], which was not propagated
in the Si waveguide, reveals strong ringing in the ZERO-rail which is a manifestation of the
Figure 8.8: Innite-persistence 10 Gb/s sampling oscilloscope traces (20 ps/div.): (a) RZ-
OOK pump, (b) Converted probe (+0.6 nm lter-probe detuning) (c) inverted eye diagram
due to XAM (0 nm lter-probe detuning). Receiver power PRX = 1 µW, for (a) and (b),
and PRX = 100 µW for (c). The average pump power was ∼ 16 dBm for all eye diagrams.
The artifact in the ZERO rails is ascribed to the sampling module's RF response.
RF-response of the sampling head. However, the steepness in the edge of the lter transfer
function may also play a strong role in mitigating the pattern-dependence in the converted
probe [300]. Consequently, pattern-dependence may not have contributed signicantly to
the penalty observed for the probe in the receiver sensitivity measurements.
Since the converted probe demonstrates a dierent pulse-width compared to that of the
pump (Fig. 8.8), it was important to characterize the pulse-width of the probe to assess
its impact on receiver sensitivity. Figure 9 shows autocorrelation traces of the baseline
pump and the converted probe, measured before the pre-amplied receiver, and the detector,
respectively. A direct measurement on the converted probe before the receiver was dicult
due to its low (∼ 1 µW) power. The autocorrelation full-width-at-half-maximum (AFWHM)
of the pump was measured at 4 ps before the receiver, and the AFWHM of the probe
was measured at 26 ps before the detector, which also accounted for convolution with the
receiver's optical components. However, the eective impulse response of those components-
combined could be extrapolated by also carrying out an autocorrelation on the pump before
Figure 8.9: Autocorrelation traces: The baseline RZ-OOK pump was measured at the output
of the transmitter, whereas the probe was measured before the detector in Fig. 8.3. No shape
factor was applied to the above traces.
the detector, which yielded an AFWHM of 24 ps. Assuming Gaussian functions for all the
relevant quantities, this yields an eective impulse response AFWHM of (242 − 42 )1/2 = 23.7
ps for all of the receiver optical components. Therefore, the extrapolated AFWHM of the
probe at the output of the XPM-WC lter is then (262 − 23.72 )1/2 = 10.7 ps, which yields
a Gaussian FWHM of 7.5 ps, and represents a lter-induced broadening factor of about
3.5 relative to the Gaussian FWHM (2.7 ps) of the pump. However, the pulse-width of
the probe is still too short to result in a signicant dierence in the receiver sensitivities
of the converted probe and the pump. The receiver sensitivity benets from reducing the
duty-cycle of RZ-OOK below 50% is quickly exhausted at approximately 33% [301].
Receiver sensitivity measurement results are shown in Fig. 8.10. The baseline RZ-
OOK pump receiver sensitivity was −37 dBm (0.2 µW) at 10−9 BER and was measured
by bypassing the Si waveguide and the FBG and tuning the remaining lters to the pump
wavelength of 1553.5 nm. At −36.3 dBm (0.214 µW), the receiver sensitivity penalty of
XPM-WC is ∼ 0.7 dB. The penalty is attributed to sub-optimal ltering. Although the
probe output by the Si waveguide had a high OSNR of > 45 dB/0.1 nm, this was not the
case for the converted probe (which had an OSNR of approximately 30 dB/0.1 nm) due to
the large lter-probe detuning of +0.6 nm, which was required to suppress the competing
XAM-carrier.
There was some dispersion in the BER data of the converted probe as the receiver power
was varied, which was due to drift in the waveguide alignment station, and to the polarization
states of the pump and probe. Figure 8.10 also demonstrates a slight deviation from the
strongly linear trend established for receiver powers ≤ −40 dBm (0.1 µW), for both sets
of data. The deviation is ascribed to insucient receiver EDFA gain that was required to
maintain the power at the detector constant, when the receiver power was reduced below
−40 dBm. However, the overall trend required to assess the receiver sensitivity performance
of the two signals could still be established from the sets of data used in the plot.
The additional receiver sensitivity penalty due to probe detuning is also characterized by
varying the wavelength of the input CW probe between −0.1 nm and +0.25 nm relative to its
optimal position location of +0.6 nm, as shown in Fig. 8.11. The result indicates an asym-
metric trend favoring detuning to longer wavelengths, and is attributed to the asymmetric
lter prole, as well as the asymmetric spectral broadening of the output probe. As the
probe wavelength is detuned to the shorter wavelengths, the suppression of the XAM-carrier
is enhanced, but the XPM-WC lter transfer function characteristic becomes increasingly
sub-optimal for the required conversion, exacerbated by the probe center-wavelength relo-
cation away from the maximum transmission point of the composite lter. For positive
detuning, the negative roll-o slope of the lter transfer function was insuciently steep,
making it less ecient at XAM-carrier suppression, which allowed the XAM-carrier to inter-
fere with the XPM-WC signal in the receiver. Figure 8.11 shows that the additional receiver
sensitivity penalty may be kept within 1 dB, if the location of the lter, or equivalently the
probe wavelength, is kept to within 0.2 nm.
Figure 8.10: Receiver Sensitivity BER penalty is < 1 dB for the converted probe compared
to the baseline RZ-OOK.
8.1.7 XPM-WC Mathematical Model

In order to theoretically investigate the XPM-WC experiment, the method presented in Sec.
3.3.2 is used to model the two-wave optical dynamics in these Si waveguides. The dynamics
are governed by an interplay between waveguide dispersion and nonlinear eects resulting
from the Si third-order tensor susceptibility. Nonlinear eects, such as XPM, SPM and TPA
0 00
can all be described through a complex eective nonlinear susceptibility, Γ = Γ + jΓ , where
0
the real component (Γ ) describes nonlinear eects such as XPM and SPM, and the imaginary
Figure 8.11: Eect of probe detuning on receiver sensitivity.
00
component (Γ ) describes carrier eects and consequent loss-processes such as TPA. To
model the interaction of two co-propagating signals, as is the case for XPM in a pump-
probe conguration, four eective susceptibilities, Γpp , Γss , Γps , and Γsp , are required, and
respectively represent the pump and signal eective susceptibilities, as well as the eective
susceptibilities related to the overlap of the pump and the probe signals, which are centered
at the pump and probe frequencies. The eective nonlinear susceptibilities may be found by
taking an average of the complex susceptibility tensor over the waveguide cross-section, and
averaged to the waveguide modes as shown in Eq. (3.37). Using these parameters, the signal
dynamics are found through a set of coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations (NLSEs), given
by Eq. (3.35) for the pump and Eq. (3.36) for the signal/probe. The carrier dynamics are
included through Eq. (3.38), which includes the eects of degenerate-TPA (D-TPA) and
non-degenerate-TPA (ND-TPA). Carriers decay in a time related to τc . The carrier density
is related to FCA through Eq. (3.15), and is also related to the free carrier induced index
change through Eq. (3.14). The interplay between a CW probe and RZ-OOK pump pulse-
train could then be investigated by using a quasi-CW probe represented by a square pulse
many bit-slots long, and a shortened PRBS RZ-OOK pulse train, as described in Sec 8.1.8.
8.1.8 XPM-WC Modeling Results
Figure 8.12: Output spectrum generated through numerical modeling, accounting for both
Kerr and TPA eects. Clear asymmetric spectral broadening can be seen in agreement with
the experimental results (Fig. 8.5).
The WC system is modeled using the method outlined in the previous section. In the
experiment, a pump-probe conguration with a CW probe and a RZ-OOK pump was used.
The probe is modeled as a signal with an approximately temporally-at response in the
computational window, resulting in a narrow frequency bandwidth (∼ 10 MHz). The average
power of the probe is set to 54 mW and centered at λ = 1540 nm. Due to limitations on
computational time and speed, the PPG baseband RF signal is modeled as a 10 Gb/s, 25 − 1
PRBS (instead of the 231 − 1 PRBS used in the experiment), periodically repeating ten
times within the computational window. The pulsed source pre-modulation is modeled as
a 10 GHz, transform-limited Gaussian pulse train centered at λ = 1553.5 nm with a peak
power of 0.89 W. The powers used for the pump and probe are the powers launched into
the nanowire after an assumed coupling loss of 4.7 dB, as determined by experiment. A
free-carrier lifetime of 0.5 ns [299] is also assumed, along with a linear propagation loss of 3
dB/cm [84]. The eective nonlinear coecients are found using Eq. (3.37), and dispersion
coecients up to 3rd order are included in the model as shown in Eq. (3.35) and Eq. (3.36).
Figure 8.13: Contributions to spectral broadening: (a) degenerate TPA and FCA/FCD (b)
non-degenerate TPA and FCD/FCA, (c) the combined result of all free-carrier eects and
(d) the Kerr-eect. The accumulative eect of all broadening mechanisms is shown in Fig.
8.12.
Figure 8.14: Contributions to spectral broadening, extension of Fig. 8.13 showing detailed
spectral features. Insets show spectral regions near the respective optical carriers for the
pump (±2.5 nm) and the probe (±0.2 nm), in order to highlight spectral asymmetry
Figure 8.12 shows the output spectra, where the pump and probe output both show sig-
nicant spectral broadening due to interaction within the Si waveguide, in good agreement
with the experimental results. Figure 8.14 shows more detailed spectral plots of the cases de-
scribed by Fig. 8.13. Broadening mechanisms native to Si waveguides can be most generally
attributed to either TPA or the Kerr eect. In order to explore these eects individually, the
model is adapted to decouple the TPA eects (FCA, FCD, and XAM) from the Kerr eects
(SPM and XPM) through manipulation of the complex eective nonlinear coecients. In
investigation of only the Kerr eects, the imaginary component of the coecients are set to
zero, whereas the role of TPA is isolated by setting the real part of the coecients to zero.
Furthermore, ND-TPA and degenerate TPA (D-TPA) can be decoupled by setting either the
self or cross terms equal to zero respectively.
The results are summarized in Fig. 8.13, and demonstrate the various Kerr and TPA-
induced contributions to the spectral broadening of the WDM signal. Figure 8.13(a) shows
the impact of D-TPA on the spectra of the pump and the probe. In this case the pump is
distorted by D-TPA where two photons are absorbed from the pump beam to generate a free
electron. D-TPA in the pump results in FCA and FCD that lead to asymmetric broadening of
the pump spectrum. The probe experiences ND-TPA [Fig. 8.13(b)], due to the absorption of
a photon from the pump, and a photon from the probe. The probe consequently experiences
amplitude modulation due to ND-TPA, resulting in XAM, which imprints the CW probe with
a polarity-inverted version of the RZ-OOK pump. Since TPA also results in FC injection,
the probe also experiences FCA and asymmetric spectral broadening, due to FCD-induced
XPM. The leading and trailing edges of a pump pulse experience an imbalanced free-carrier
density that is also experienced by the probe, thus leading to chirp-induced broadening and
asymmetric spectra. Figure 8.13(c) shows the combined eect of D-TPA and ND-TPA, where
the asymmetries in the pump result mostly from D-TPA and the asymmetries in the probe
result mostly from ND-TPA. Figure 8.13(d) shows only the Kerr-eect, revealing the highly
symmetric SPM- and XPM-induced spectral broadening [2], which contrast with those due
to TPA [Fig. 8.13(a)]. The Kerr-eect broadening is substantial due to the lack of free
carrier induced losses and lack of FCD. Figure 8.12 shows the output spectrum of the WDM
signal, which includes both Kerr and TPA eects, resulting in an asymmetric spectrum due
to free-carrier eects, but with the larger contribution coming from the Kerr-eect. Figure
8.12 shows less broadening than Fig. 8.13(d) since the Kerr- and FCD-based phase shifts
are of opposite signs, and therefore the presence of FCD partially mitigates some of the
broadening due to Kerr-induced XPM, and also since the Kerr-eect is weakened through
free carrier-induced losses.

Figure 8.15: Theoretically generated eye diagrams for (a) the input signal, (b) the output
signal, and (c) the XAM-encoded signal on the probe carrier. Clear eye diagrams are found,
indicating successful transfer of the data to a new wavelength. Pattern dependence can be
observed in the XAM eye due to free carrier induced pattern-dependence.
To model the eectiveness of the ltering used in XPM-WC, Gaussian lters are applied to
the output spectrum. First, a 0.3-nm-FWHM ideal Gaussian lter is detuned from the probe
carrier by +0.6 nm to approximate the composite lter and probe-lter detuning used in the
experiment. The output is further sent through 0.3 nm and 0.5 nm Gaussian lters used in
the receiver, and the resultant detected probe is convolved with the sampling module impulse
response, taken to be 20 ps. The resultant probe is then used to construct eye-diagrams.
Figure 8.15 demonstrates good agreement with the experimental signal traces showing good
data XPM-WC between the pump and the ltered probe, with clear eye-diagrams.
The strength of each individual broadening mechanism can also be quantied by applying
the +0.6 nm detuned lter to the spectra outlined in Fig. 8.13. Each individual spectrum is
ltered via the XPM-WC lter and passed through the optical components of the receiver
before being convolved with the detector. Figure 8.16 shows the result, normalized to the
highest received voltage. A clear dierence is observed for the received voltage for each
individual case and follows the trend of most spectral broadening, where the nonlinear eects
or combination of nonlinear eects which cause the most spectral broadening also result in
the highest received voltage. This is expected since the received power is directly related
to the overlap of the broadened probe with the detuned lter. It is also clear that any of
the broadening mechanisms may be used to perform WC of the RZ-OOK data with little
patterning eects, which is the result of the transfer function characteristics of the detuned
lter as described previously. Even D-TPA can cause pattern transfer from the RZ-OOK
pump to the CW probe since the free carriers excited by two pump photons result in FCD
experienced by the probe. Figure 8.16 also reiterates the Kerr-eect as the strongest eect
and is considered the dominant mechanism for the experiments performed in this report.
Second, the XAM eect was investigated by tuning the lters to the probe carrier fre-
quency [282], and the resulting prominent XAM signal underscores the importance of extin-
guishing the probe carrier frequency in XPM-WC, since without lter detuning, the XAM
signal can interfere with the XPM-WC signal in the receiver [Fig. 8.15(c)]. In addition,
the XAM signal can compete with the XPM-WC signal for the gain of the receiver EDFAs,
resulting in extinction-ratio degradations in the detected XPM-WC signal. However, the
polarity-inverted signal suggests an alternative WC technique utilizing XAM as the conver-
sion mechanism, if the signal polarity could be rectied through an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder
interferometer [282]. XAM is a direct consequence of ND-TPA, which is eectively an in-
stantaneous process; however the carrier-recovery time of the mechanism is limited by the
free-carrier lifetime [282], which can be enhanced by the rapid surface recombination time
in the Si waveguide due to its large ratio of surface-area-to-volume. Pattern dependence is
directly observable in the polarity-inverted eye diagram [Fig. 8.15(c)] since the signal recov-
ery is directly linked to carrier lifetime, causing an increase in the variance of the ONE-rail
due to a pattern dependent free carrier density and the resulting FCA.
Figure 8.16: Eye diagrams generated by applying the detuned XPM-WC lter to spectra
outlined in Fig. 8.13. All broadening mechanisms lead to data WC, however the strength
of the received signal is highly dependent on the degree of spectral broadening. The legend
lists eects from highest to lowest received voltage.
In order to suppress the XAM-carrier in the experiment, the composite lter was required
to be detuned by a minimum of +0.6 nm, which is undesirable since the converted probe
would be well out of its spectral slot on a 50 GHz or a 100 GHz grid for a typical DWDM
channel grid. The lter detuning was necessary since the lters used in the experiment were
not specically designed for this application, motivating the need to design the optimal lter
prole that would allow XPM-WC with zero detuning between the probe and the lter. The
design was achieved by modeling a lter transfer function,
H(ν) = |H(ν)|ejφ(ν) (8.1)
operating on the probe, Us (the Fourier transform of the electric eld of the output probe)
such that the result of the ltering operation on the spectrally-broadened probe is a sig-
nal identical to the input RZ-OOK pump spectrum Up , and centered at the probe carrier
frequency,
Up (ν)
H(ν) = (8.2)
Us (ν)
Figure 8.17: Comparison of the characteristics of the ideal lter (black trace) with those of
the experimental (non-ideal) lter (red trace). (a) Amplitude response (b) Phase response
(c) Group delay.
Figure 8.17 shows the result of this mathematical operation. The amplitude frequency
response, |H(ν)|, demonstrates a sharp dip centered at the carrier frequency, which is an
indication of XAM suppression for optimal replication of the input RZ-OOK pump. The
phase response, φ(ν), of the ideal lter is obtained from Eq. (8.1) through
Im {H(ν)}

φ(ν) = tan −1
(8.3)
Re {H(ν)}
and unwrapped to show a large phase shift between the blue- and red-spectral components
which is accompanied by a large group delay [Fig. 8.17(c)] of ∼ 400 ps, obtained from a
dierentiation of the phase response after interpolation,
λ2 dφ(λ)
τg (λ) = (8.4)
2πc dλ
The derived lter was shown to be causal by verifying the real and imaginary components
of the transfer function to be Hilbert Transform (HT) pairs. The derived ideal transfer
function results in perfect reconstruction of the input data both spectrally and temporally
when applied to the output probe as expected. These results are compared to the actual
lter used in the experiment, where the experimental phase response can be estimated via
the Hilbert transform of the amplitude response
φ(ν) = −HT {ln (|H(ν)|)} (8.5)
and is shown in Fig. 8.17(b). The group delay of the experimental lter is found from Eq.
(8.4). The −3-dB-FWHM of the amplitude response for the ideal lter is found to be 1.2
nm, while the −6-dB FWHM is found to be ∼ 1.6 nm, which are signicantly dierent from
the 0.34 nm and 0.45 nm −3-dB and −6-dB-FWHM bandwidths of the composite lter used
in the experiment. This comparison also explains the broadening factor after the conversion
observed in the experiment, since the spectral bandwidth of the experimental lter wasn't
broad enough to exactly reproduce the pulse-width of the RZ-OOK pump. A more optimal
lter could be constructed through a composite lter composed of bandpass and notch lters,
or even integrated on-chip with arrays of coupled-ring resonators.

8.1.9 Potential for XPM Multicasting

Wavelength multicasting is an optical processing method where a single WDM channel can be
simultaneously broadcast to multiple channels for clock/data distribution, and transparent
wavelength multicasting has recently been achieved in Si waveguides using FWM nonlinear
eect [290].
Figure 8.18: AWG ltering scheme for six-way RZ-OOK XPM-multicasting.
Here, an alternative all-optical on-chip RZ-OOK multicasting scheme using XPM in a
Si waveguide followed by a single AWG is explored. In this method, an RZ-OOK data-
bearing pump and a single CW probe, initialized identically to the XPM-WC experiment
presented in Sec, 8.1.4, co-propagate in a Si photonic wire. The data-bearing pump induces
spectral broadening in the CW probe via XPM, and optical ltering by an on- or o-chip
AWG is used for PM-AM conversion. In order to support multicasting, an AWG could
be used to lter dierent spectral components of the broadened probe. For example, if
four AWG channels were utilized to lter the XPM-broadened probe, a four-way multicast
could be achieved from a single pump and a single probe, which is simpler in general than
the FWM multicasting technique where a four-way multicast would require four separate
co-propagating CW signals that would have to be combined using a combiner/AWG at the
input of the photonic wire and spectrally/spatially demultiplexed at the output via a separate
AWG. Thus, XPM-multicasting may be a method to further reduce device component-count
and increase power savings.
Figure 8.19: Normalized eye-diagrams constructed from the utilized AWG channels (Fig.
8.18) in the six-way XPM-multicasting method
Here, the potential for XPM-multicasting is investigated theoretically using the modeling
method presented in Sec. 8.1.7 to model the interaction between the 10 Gb/s RZ-OOK pump
and CW probe. A 25 GHz AWG is the modeled to explore the feasibility of multicasting.
Figure 8.18 demonstrates the AWG ltering scheme, where each channel of the 25 GHz
AWG was modeled as an 11-GHz-FWHM power transfer function with a Gaussian pass-
band [302, 303, 304]. The ±25 GHz channels were avoided due to spectral proximity to
the XAM carrier, and the imbalance in the optical power due to the probe's FCD-induced
spectral asymmetry. The phase response of each channel was estimated through the HT
according to Eq. (8.5). Channel crosstalk was < −16 dB for each channel.
After being ltered by the AWG, each channel was convolved with the receiver, which was
modeled identically to that in Sec. 8.1.8, and the detected signal was then used to construct
eye-diagrams. Figure 8.19 shows each resulting eye-diagram, normalized to the highest
receiver voltage (the +50-GHz channel). Each eye-diagram is clear, indicating successful
transfer of the RZ-OOK data to the new respective wavelength. The amplitudes of the eyes
are weaker for AWG channels farther from the probe carrier due to the drop in spectral
power of the XPM pedestal. This can be further quantied by nding the relative average
optical power of the converted signal (Fig. 8.20). These results indicate that the average
power of the converted signals may be kept within 4 dB for the ±50 GHz and ±75 GHz
channels, and within 8 dB for the ±50 GHz, ±75 GHz, and ±100 GHz channels, showing
the potential for a six-way or more RZ-OOK multicast using a single probe, a pump, and
AWG, limited by the OSNR of the probe, and the power of the pump. However, the OSNR
could be improved by pre-ltering the pump prior to its injection into the photonic wire,
and this lter could also be integrated on-chip.
In principle, such a 1×N multicasting conguration could be realized in a compact fashion
completely on-chip with a single integrated AWG which would both selectively lter the
XPM-broadened probe, and spatially distribute the ltered channels to separate waveguides
or o-chip couplers. In fact, realizable integrated AWGs on the SOI platform have recently
been demonstrated [305, 306], and could be integrated as part of an all-optical on-chip
XPM, 1 × N multicasting scheme. FWM multicasting on the other hand, although scalable
to larger N , would require AWGs at both the input and output coupling planes of the
nonlinear photonic wire, and would thus require more substrate real-estate.
Figure 8.20: Normalized average optical power after conversion for the utilized AWG (Fig.
8.18) channels in the six-way multicasting method.
8.2 Format Conversion in a Si Waveguide via XPM
8.2.1 Introduction
The previous section concentrated on a wavelength conversion technique using XPM. This
technique essentially relied on both spectral and temporal carving, where the RZ-OOK-
bearing pump carved a CW signal temporally via XPM, while a detuned lter carved the
spectral chirp induced by the XPM into amplitude modulation. Here, another all-optical
signal processing concept is explored, namely, modulation format conversion using XPM
(XPM-FC), which also relies on pulse carving concepts in much the same way.
Figure 8.21: Principle of XPM-FC. A 10 GHz pulse-train is used as the pump, while the
probe carries a 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK quasi-CW signal. The pump then induces chirp on the
probe when the probe carries a ONE-bit, which is converter to amplitude modulation by
a detuned lter. In this way, the NRZ-OOK pump is carved by the 10 GHz pulse train,
converting NRZ-OOK into RZ-OOK.
The type of format conversion explored here is converting the modulation format of a
signal from NRZ-OOK to RZ-OOK using all-optical XPM in a Si waveguide. The RZ-OOK
and the NRZ-OOK formats are two of the most commonly used pulse formats today. The
RZ format is attractive in long haul networks because of its tolerance to ber nonlinearities,
while the NRZ format is common to metropolitan area networks. In an eort to allow
networks employing these two modulation formats to communicate seamlessly, an ultra-fast
transparent method for performing format conversion is desirable.
Figure 8.22: Set-up for NRZ-to-RZ-OOK XPM-FC: PPG=pulsed-pattern generator,

PRBS=Pseudo-random bit sequence, MLLD=mode-locked laser diode, VDL=variable de-
lay line, HPA=high-power amplier, PC=polarization controller, LTF=lensed tapered ber,
FBG=ber Bragg grating, OBPF=optical band-pass lter, VOA=variable optical attenua-
tor, ISO=optical isolator, PRX=receiver power, LNF=low-noise gure, , CR=clock recovery,
TIA=transimpedance amplier, ED=error detector
Figure 8.23: (a) 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK eye diagram. (b) Format converted 10 Gb/s RZ-OOK
eye diagram
Implementation of format conversion via XPM is very similar to XPM-WC. In XPM-FC,
the pump carries a 10 GHz pulse train, while the probe carries a quasi-CW signal consisting
of NRZ-OOK data. When the pump and probe overlap, chirp is induced on the probe
resulting in spectral broadening. The phase modulation is then converted to amplitude
modulation using a detuned lter, in a similar way as XPM-FC. The key for the format-
conversion process is that the pump and probe overlap only when there is a ONE-bit on the
NRZ-OOK probe, and temporally only for the pulse-width of the pump, since XPM is an
ultra-fast Kerr nonlinear process. Therefore, the pump can temporally carve the NRZ-OOK
probe, converting the NRZ-OOK probe into an RZ-OOK signal (Fig. 8.21).
Figure 8.24: (a) Output probe spectrum and ltering (b) BER receiver sensitivity measure-
ments.
8.2.2 Demonstration of XPM NRZ-to-RZ-OOK Format Conversion

The experimental setup (Fig. 8.22) consisted of a 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK probe at ∼ 1540.1 nm
combined with a 3%-duty-cycle, 10 GHz pulse train at 1553.5 nm output by a MLLD that
constituted the pump. The state-of- polarizations of the probe and the pump were adjusted
for QTE mode launch using polarization controllers and the pump and the probe were
synchronized using a tunable delay-line. Both signals were amplied, combined, and coupled
to the Si waveguide by the input lensed tapered ber (LTF). The average powers of the probe
and the pump respectively were ∼ 80 mW, and ∼ 100 mW measured immediately before
the input LTF. The waveguide used was a 220 nm × 500 nm (height × width), 4.8-mm-long
Si waveguide with air top-cladding, also fabricated on SOI platform in the Microelectronics
Research Laboratory at the IBM T. J. Watson research center. The Si waveguide employed
Figure 8.25: (a) 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK eye diagram, modeling result. (b) Format converted 10
Gb/s RZ-OOK eye diagram, modeling result
polymer mode adapters for improved coupling eciency, and the coupling loss per facet was
∼ 4.5 dB. In the Si waveguide, the NRZ-probe experiences XPM due to co-propagation with
the more powerful 10 GHz pulsed pump. A combination of 0.3-nm and FBG lters were
used to synthesize the requisite lter, whose composite prole was detuned by ∼ +0.35 nm
relative to the probe carrier to aect phase-to-amplitude conversion [Fig. 8.24(a)]. The eye
diagram of the baseline NRZ-OOK input probe signal, and converted RZ-OOK signal, are
shown in Fig. 8.23.
Figure 8.24(b) demonstrates a receiver sensitivity enhancement of ∼ 2.5 dB for RZ-OOK
compared to NRZ-OOK, as expected [307, 301]. The converted RZ-OOK signal performed
nearly as well as the baseline RZ-OOK signal, with a 10−9 BER penalty of 0.1 dB maximum
compared to baseline RZ-OOK, and with no error oor observed near 10−12 BER.
Figure 8.26: (a) numerically determined output probe spectrum and ltering. (b) eye-
diagram determined from modeling format conversion of 160 Gb/s data, demonstrating the
feasibility of transparent format conversion at data rates beyond 160 Gb/s.
8.2.3 XPM-FC Modeling Results

The experiment was theoretically analyzed using the method presented in Sec. 8.1.7. The
pump and probe were modeled to have the same power in the waveguide as estimated from
the experiment. The PPG was modeled as a 10 Gb/s, 25 − 1 PRBS, periodically repeating
ten times, which drove a NRZ-OOK transmitter and produced signals centered at λ = 1540.1
nm. The pulsed source was modeled as a 10 GHz, transform-limited Gaussian pulse train
centered at λ = 1553.5 nm. A free-carrier lifetime of 0.5 ns was also assumed, along with
a linear propagation loss of 3.5 dB/cm. The resulting XPM-broadened probe spectrum is
shown in Fig. 8.26(a), where the probe exhibits spectral broadening due to XPM. Eye
diagrams (Fig. 8.25) were found by passing the XPM-broadened probe through a series of
lters (0.2 nm, 0.3 nm and 0.5 nm FWHM Gaussian lters (Fig. 8.22)] detuned +0.35 nm
from the carrier. A receiver impulse response of 20 ps was assumed. In order to determine
the potential for format conversion at higher bit-rates, the pulse-source was modulated by
a 160 GHz pulse train, and the probe modeled as 160 Gb/s NRZ-OOK data. The results
are shown in Fig. 8.26(b), where the eye diagram is open, indicating that the ultra-fast
Kerr-XPM mechanism is the dominant mechanism over carrier eects which have a slow
recovery time (∼ 500 ps) and the ecacy of this technique beyond 160 Gb/s.
9 Mode- and Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing
in a Si Waveguide
9.1 Introduction
Computational performance gains are currently driven by an increased number of processing
cores as opposed to clock-frequency-scaling [7, 8, 9]. This shift towards parallel computing
has placed a considerable emphasis on ecient and high-capacity on-chip communication net-
works to manage information exchange between multiple cores. One approach towards meet-
ing such demands is photonic on-chip networks enabled by Si-waveguide-interconnects. Si
waveguides can support substantial aggregate bandwidths since the optical states supported
by waveguide structures have many degrees of orthogonality, and thus, possible potential
orthogonal data channels. The most ubiquitous example is wavelength, where wavelength-
division-multiplexing (WDM) has already been used to demonstrate 1.28 Tb/s transmission
through a single Si waveguide [308]. However, other orthogonalities can be used alongside
WDM to either extend bandwidth scaling, or to diminish system-level cost and complexity
by reducing the number of required lasers for a given aggregate bandwidth.
Fiber-optic networks are similarly facing enormous demands on communication band-
width due to rapidly-increasing network trac. To keep pace researchers have turned to
additional orthogonalities to use alongside or in place of WDM. One promising direction is
161
CHAPTER 9. MDM AND MDM-WDM IN A SI WAVEGUIDE 162
WDM MDM WDM

λ1 MDM CH:1 MDM CH:1 λ1
λ2 λ2
λM λM
MDM DEMUX
On-Chip Si Interconnect
MDM MUX
λ1 MDM CH:2 MDM CH:2 λ1
λ2 λ2
λM Total Number of Data Channels: N × M λM

λ1 Total Aggregate Bandwidth: N × M × B λ1
λ2 MDM CH:N MDM CH:N λ2
λM λM
Figure 9.1: Illustration showing simultaneous multiplexing of M wavelengths and N modes at

bandwidth B for N × M × B MDM-WDM.
to use multimode ber and mode-division-multiplexing (MDM) in order to transmit mul-
tiple data channels per wavelength, carried by separate guided modes. MDM has been
demonstrated in ber using a number of approaches, including the utilization of only a few
modes in few-mode-ber, or using multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) signal processing
techniques to deconvolve crosstalk from mode-mixing between the separate channels.
Only recently has MDM started to nd application in on-chip Si photonics interconnects.
In particular, MDM has been demonstrated in Si waveguides using a directional-coupler-
based coupling scheme to selectively excite individual modes with bit-error-rate (BER)
receiver sensitivity penalties between 1.6 dB 1.8 dB [309]. MDM-WDM has also been
demonstrated using a unique ring-resonator-based solution, however the solution required
active tuning of the rings while resulting in BER penalties between 0.6 dB 1.4 dB [310]. In
this work, on-chip MDM and MDM-WDM transmission through a multimode Si waveguide
(MM-SiWG) is enabled by completely passive and compact asymmetric Y-junction mode
multiplexers (muxes) and demultiplexers (demuxes). As will be described, using asymmet-
ric Y-junction muxes/demuxes, an aggregate bandwidth of 60 Gb/s using 2 × 3 × 10 Gb/s
MDM-WDM over a 1.2 mm link with power penalties < 1 dB per channel at the receiver
was obtainable.
9.2 Advantages of Multimode Waveguides for On-Chip

Interconnects
The link capacity of on-chip optical interconnects can be increased using a number of tech-
niques, including WDM [308], polarization-division-multiplexing (PDM) [311], and time-
division-multiplexing (TDM) [312]; recently, however, spatial-division-multiplexing (SDM)
has been targeted as a means to ameliorate the future communication-capacity gap by us-
ing multiple spatial modes to carry multiple information channels. Two examples of SDM
realized in ber-optic links include the following:
1. Using multiple waveguides, such as multi-core bers (MCF), where each channel occu-
pies the fundamental mode of a spatially separate waveguide core.
2. Using MDM in a few-mode-ber (FMF), where all modes are spatially overlapped in
the same waveguide core, but are described by separate orthogonal states.
In applying these ideas to Si-waveguide-interconnects, SDM can be realized by either of the
following:
1. Increasing the number of waveguides, NW G , in an approach similar to using MCFs.
2. Using NM M separate orthogonal modes of an multimode waveguide (MM-SiWG) in an
approach similar to using MDM in FMFs.
There are signicant system-level dierences between using M waveguides or M modes
of a MM-SiWG to scale the link aggregate bandwidth, especially in terms of inter-channel
crosstalk, and network complexity. Using NW Gs = M waveguides to carry M separate spatial

modes is advantageous because each spatial mode is separated spatially and therefore can
be designed such that the crosstalk is almost entirely eliminated. However this approach
also requires M times as many modulators, switches, and routers, and potentially as many
as M 2 waveguide crossings, quickly leading to signicant system complexity.
On the other hand, if integrated devices like switches/routers and waveguide crossings
can be designed to be compatible over multiple guided modes, a single MM-SiWG supporting
NM M = M modes might not need signicant scaling in the number of switches, routers, or
crossings compared to a single-mode system. The challenge of using a single MM-SiWG is
that the guided modes overlap in the same waveguide core and can potentially couple to
one another through waveguide perturbations or waveguide nonlinear processes, resulting
in crosstalk. Therefore this approach requires an emphasis on devices which are carefully
designed to suppress crosstalk from mode-coupling. Already, MM components are being
developed [313], including MM waveguide bends designed with conformal mapping [314],
such that the coupling between modes along the bend is almost entirely eliminated, and ring
resonators supporting multiple modes [315] which could be used as the foundation for future
multimode switches and routers.
9.3 Asymmetric Y-junctions for MDM Muxes and De-

muxes
In this section, asymmetric Y-junctions are designed and characterized for selectively ad-
dressing individual modes in a multimode Si waveguide. It is found that the frequency
response of the mux/demux pair depends upon the length of the multimode section as well
as Y-junction angle, and crosstalk as low as −30 dB, < −9 dB over the C-band, with insertion
loss < 1.5 dB can be achieved.
9.3.1 Asymmetric Y-Junctions as Mode Sorters
First Even First Odd

Mode Mode
(a)
1 2
(d)
y (μm)
LMM
(b) Arm-A Arm-C
-2
0 2
y (μm)
Arm-B Arm-D
(c) 1 μm
-1 -2 -2
x (μm) 2
Figure 9.2: (a) Illustration of mode mux/demux using asymmetric Y-junctions. For a 1 µm wide
waveguide at λ = 1550 nm, Ey component of: (b) rst even QTM mode, ne,e = 2.20, ng,e = 4.44.
(c) rst odd QTM mode, ne,o = 1.90, ng,o = 4.70. (d) SEM image showing fabricated device with
θ = 1◦ .
Y-junctions are standard optical elements most commonly used as broadband power-
dividers [316]. However asymmetric Y-junctions, where each arm supports a mode with a
dierent wavevector, can be designed to act as a mode sorter [317, 318]. In such a mode
sorter, the arm supporting the fundamental mode with the smaller (larger) eective index,
ne , adiabatically excites the rst odd (even) mode of the Y-junction "stem", and vice versa.
Therefore, a pair of asymmetric Y-junctions can be used as a mux/demux in a multimode
link [Fig. 9.2(a)] [318, 112, 319, 320, 321].

A well-known criterion for mode sorting has been derived from coupled mode theory by
dening a mode-conversion-factor (MCF) based on Y-junction properties
|βA − βB |
MCF = , (9.1)
θ[radians]γAB
with θ the angle between the Y-junction arms, βA (βB ) the wavevector of the fundamental
mode supported by Arm A (Arm B), γAB = 0.5 (βA + βB )2 − (2kn)2 related to the evanes-
p
cent decay constant of the two modes, k the free-space wavevector, and n the cladding index
of refraction [317, 318]. It can be shown that for MCF > 0.43 (MCF < 0.43), an asymmetric
Y-junction acts as a mode sorter (power divider) [317, 318].
9.3.2 Asymmetric Y-Junction Design

To illustrate the potential of Si asymmetric Y-junctions for on-chip MDM, Y-junctions are
designed with the following cross-sections: 250 nm × 450 nm (h × w) for Arm A, 250 nm ×
550 nm for Arm B, and 250 nm × 1 µm for the multimode stem. Quasi transverse-magnetic
(QTM) modes are considered since less sidewall-roughness-induced coupling between modes
is expected as compared to quasi-transverse-electric modes. The QTM mode of Arm A (Arm
B) has wavevector βA = 7.88 µm−1 (βB = 8.23 µm−1 ) while the stem supports two QTM
modes [Fig. 9.2(b) and 9.2(c)]. For this design, MCF = 3.6/θ (with θ in degrees) indicating
the device is a mode sorter for θ < ∼ 8◦ . The device also has very good geometrical
fabrication tolerance, and for θ = 1◦ , MCF > 0.43 is satised for a ± 40 nm variation in
each arm-width.
Devices were designed with θ varying between 1◦ and 9◦ and the multimode link length
(LMM ) varying between 100 µm and 1.2 mm. In all cases the arms linearly separate to a
Crosstalk, 10 log(ε) (dB)

Straight Waveguide
Output Power (dBm)
Power Penalty (dB)

Through Port
Cross Port
Input:
Arm-A
Arm-B (a) (b)
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)
Figure 9.3: (a) Measured Pt and Px for −3 dBm input when Arm A or Arm B is excited, and
the measured output of a straight 550 nm wide waveguide. (b) Measured crosstalk and estimated
receiver sensitivity power penalties from Eq. (9.2). Dotted red line indicates modeling result. Insets:
outputs of arm-C and arm-D captured at the endfacet of the cleaved chip by an infrared camera, for
−23 dBm input to Arm A, demonstrating dierence in crosstalk at dierent operating wavelengths.
spacing > 30 µm, ensuring no direct-coupling crosstalk between the two waveguides at the
facets of the chip. Fabrication was performed using the procedure described in [146] and
in Ch. 2. Lensed-tapered bers (LTFs) were employed to couple light into either Arm A or
Arm B [Fig. 9.2(d)] using a tunable C-band laser, and a polarization-controller was used
to selectively excite the QTM mode. The output light was either directed through a 20×
objective and imaged with an infrared camera, or collected with an LTF before being coupled
into a cooled InGaAs photodiode with lock-in detection.
9.3.3 Fabricated Asymmetric Y-Junction Characterization

The θ = 1◦ LMM = 100 µm device is rst characterized by launching a TM-polarized −3
dBm signal into Arm A or Arm B, and measuring the output power from arm-C and arm-D.
For Arm A (Arm B) excitation, the signal optimally drops through arm-C (arm-D) (through-
port) with high extinction through arm-D (arm-C) (cross-port); however in practice crosstalk
occurs due to imperfect mode injection/extraction.
The measured outcoupled power for both Arm A and Arm B excitation as a function of
wavelength [Fig. 9.3(a)] shows the power exiting the cross-port (Px ) is substantially lower
than the through-port (Pt ), indicating the device is working as a mode-mux/demux. The
device operates equally well for both modes of the multimode link since Px and Pt are nearly
identical for both inputs.
By comparing Pt to the output of a straight waveguide with length equal to the sum of
Arm A and arm-C (∼ 5 mm), it is estimated the insertion loss for this device to be < 1.5
dB over the C-band. This loss is higher than the 0.2 dB estimated from 3D nite-dierence-
time-domain calculations mostly due to scattering from fabrication imperfections, especially
at the sharp branch-point, and propagation loss. Further reduction in loss is possible through
an optimized design, including a reduction in the critical dimension of the branch-point [322].
The crosstalk, dened as = Px /Pt [Fig. 9.3(b)], is measured to be < −9 dB over the
C-band, with a minimum of −30 dB near λ = 1580 nm. A 2D eigenmode expansion method
along with an eective index method is used to match the measured crosstalk curves by
varying the width of each input arm by < 10% [Fig. 9.3(b)]. Dierences between theoretical
and experimental crosstalk curves are a result of polarization rotations in the experimental
setup and scattering-induced mode-coupling.
In a system employing MDM the crosstalk is coherent and results in a receiver sensitivity
power-penalty (PP) that can be estimated from directly according to [323]
√
PP [dB] = −10 log(1 − 2 ). (9.2)
Arm-A input Arm-B input Theoretical

15
-10
(a) (b) (c)

-35
1520 1570 1620 1520 1570 1620 1520 1570 1620
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 9.4: Measured and theoretical crosstalk for LMM = 100 µm and (a) θ = 3◦ (b) θ = 6◦ (c)
θ = 9◦ .
Therefore the expected PP for these devices is as low as 0.37 dB, and < 5.5 dB over the
C-band.
The dependence of crosstalk on θ by measuring is investigated for devices with LMM =
100 µm, and θ = 3◦ , 6◦ , and 9◦ (Fig. 9.4). It is found that the peak crosstalk increases with
increasing θ. In the case of θ = 9◦ the maximum demuxed crosstalk is as high as 10 dB,
demonstrating that the Y-junction no longer acts as a broadband mode sorter. However,
crosstalk < −25 dB is still observed at specic wavelengths. This behavior results from
imperfect excitation of one mode in the multimode stem, which induces a weighted linear
combination of the even and odd modes in the multimode section, each with dierent phase
velocities. Since the mux and demux are identical devices, time-reversal symmetry requires
that the signal is demuxed through the arm that matches the excitation arm as long as the
relative accumulated phase, ∆φe,o , between the even and odd modes at the demux returns to
an integer multiple of 2π . For this particular device, this eect can also be described through
destructive interference in the cross-port at wavelengths where ∆φe,o = |βe − βo |LMM = m2π
where m is an integer, resulting in a free-spectral-range ∆λFSR = |λ2 /(LMM (ng,e − ng,o ))|
where ng,e (ng,o ) is the group index of the rst even (odd) mode of the stem.
Arm-A input Arm-B input Theoretical

-10 (a) (b)
-20
-30
-10 (c) (d)
-20
-30
1520 1570 1620 1520 1570 1620
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 9.5: Measured and theoretical crosstalk for θ = 1◦ and (a) LMM = 300 µm (b) LMM = 600
µm (c) LMM = 900 µm (d) LMM = 1.2 mm.
Interestingly, low demuxed crosstalk is observed as a result of this interference eect for
both mode-sorting Y-junctions (such as θ = 1◦ ), and Y-junctions that excite both modes
in the interconnect with comparable amplitude (such as θ = 9◦ ). This suggests a future
path towards compact MDM muxes that excite a unique linear combination of modes for
each data channel (where the number of channels is ≤ the number of supported modes). An
identical device can then be used as the demux to extract each channel at the end of an
interconnect so long as the interconnect is designed for ∆φ = m2π . This eect is analyzed
in more detail in the next section (Sec. 9.4).
To verify the length-dependence of ∆λFSR between low-crosstalk bands determined above,
devices were measured with with θ = 1◦ and LMM equal to 300 µm, 600 µm, 900 µm, and
1.2 mm. The results are shown in Fig 9.5, and periodic low-crosstalk bands are indeed
observed as the device becomes longer, indicating the length of the optical interconnect can
be controlled to leverage interference such that the low-crosstalk-bands are spaced according
to the desired wavelength spacing in a WDM-MDM link for minimum PP's at the receiver.
However it should be further possible to realize devices with broadband low-crosstalk by

designing optimized devices using schemes such as the one presented in [322].
9.3.4 Conclusions
In this section, the utility of compact asymmetric Y-junctions as eective on-chip muxes/demuxes
for MDM was shown, with demuxed crosstalk as low as −30 dB and insertion loss < 1.5 over
the C-band. When combined with other multimode on-chip elements [314], devices based on
Y-junctions can provide a useful approach to enable MDM or WDM-MDM communication
links on-chip.
9.4 Coherently Suppressed Crosstalk

One of the fundamental devices required for a system employing MDM is a mode mux/demux
pair that results in low demultiplexed crosstalk at the receiver, as introduced in Sec. 9.3.1,
and in the case of MDM-WDM, muxes/demuxes that also operate over multiple wavelengths.
Section 9.3 demonstrated a simple passive integrated Si asymmetric Y-junction, which
can serve as both the MDM mux and demux with demultiplexed crosstalk as low as −30 dB
[112].
A natural trade-o exists between mux/demux footprint and device operation since MCF
is inversely proportional to θ (Eq. (9.1)). However, the Y-junction does not necessarily have
to be designed to operate in the mode-sorting regime to function as a mux/demux for MDM.
Instead, each arm of the Y-junction in the mux can excite a unique ensemble of modes in the
MM-WG which then linearly evolve into a single output arm of the demux. This behavior is
demanded by time reversal symmetry and the fact that the mux and demux are geometrically
identical devices.
The modes excited by the mux each have a dierent wave-vector and thus accumulate
a relative phase dierence after they propagate along the MM-WG link. At spatial cross-
sections where the relative phase dierence between the modes (∆φ) is equal to an integer
multiple of 2π , an identical demux can be used to extract an individual data channel even
though each channel was spread over all guided-modes of the interconnect. This manifests
itself as periodic spectral regions of low demuxed crosstalk, centered at wavelengths where
∆φ = m2π with m an integer. Therefore, larger value for θ can be used in order to decrease
the overall mux/demux footprint, while still operating with low crosstalk at the receiver.
For the described system, a two-arm asymmetric Y-junction and a two-mode MM-WG
was considered. Assuming negligible reection and scattering to radiation modes, the mux
in this system can be described using a device matrix, Dmux [324] with matrix elements κij
that converts a set of orthonormal input modes, | ψi i, to orthonormal output modes, | ψo i:
    
κ11 κ21  ψA  ψT M,1 
Dmux | ψi i =     =| ψo i =  , (9.3)
κ12 κ22 ψB ψT M,2
In this case, the input vector-space consists of the fundamental mode of each arm (ψA and
ψB ), and the output vector-space consists of the even and odd QTM mode of the MM-WG
(ψT M,e , ψT M,o ). Once the modes from the input arms couple to the modes of the multimodes
waveguide, the even and odd mode experiences dierent phase shifts on account of having
dierent characteristic values of ne , which can be described by a propagation matrix, P :

 
jβe LMM
e 0 
P = , (9.4)
jβo LMM
0 e
where LMM is the length of the MM-WG and βe (βo ) is the propagation constant of the even
(odd) mode of the MM-WG. The demux then couples the MM-WG modes to the fundamental
modes of the output Y-junction arms with a corresponding device matrix, Ddemux , related
to Dmux by Ddemux = Dmux

−1
. The full mode-coupling system can then be described in the
following way:
   
ψA,demux  −1 ψA,mux 
  = Dmux P Dmux  =
ψB,demux ψB,mux
  
j(βo −βe )LMM j(βo −βe )LMM
ejβe LMM κ11 κ22 − κ12 κ21 e κ12 κ21 − κ12 κ21 e  ψA,mux 
κ11 κ22 − κ12 κ21
  
κ11 κ22 − κ11 κ22 ej(βo −βe )LMM κ11 κ22 − κ12 κ21 ej(βo −βe )LMM
ψB,mux
(9.5)
For the case where ∆φe,o = (βo − βe )LMM = m2π , the full system matrix simplies to
    
ψA,demux  1 0 ψA,mux 
 = e e MM  (9.6)
jβ L
  
ψB,demux 0 1 ψB,mux
i.e., the matrix describing the whole system simplies to the identity matrix with a phase
pre-factor. This shows that the output modes of the demux equal the input modes of the
mux, and represents the successful multiplexing, transmission, and demultiplexing of two
a MDM MUX Optical Interconnect MDM DEMUX

LMM
Arm A Arm C
w1
θ wMM
w2
Arm B Arm D
1
Arm A/Arm C, QTM0 Arm B/Arm D, QTM0 Interconnect, QTM0 Interconnect, QTM1
0
b c d e
-1
Figure 9.6: (a) Illustration of mode mux/demux using asymmetric Y-junctions. For a 1 µm
wide waveguide at λ = 1550 nm, Ey component of: (b) fundamental QTM mode of Arm 1, (c)
fundamental QTM mode of Arm 2 (d) rst even QTM mode of multimode interconnect (e) rst
odd mode of multimode interconnect.
MDM channels.
Note that this result is independent of the values of κij , therefore any device that can be
described by a unitary device operator that maps the fundamental mode of each Y-junction
arm to an ensemble of modes of the MM-SiWG can be used as the mux and demux for MDM
with the appropriate design of the interconnect geometry.
9.5 Properties and Fabrication of Mux/Demux Used for

MDM
The general result from Sec. 9.3 and Sec. 9.4 is used in the design of an asymmetric
Y-junction MDM coupler for the demonstration of MDM and MDM-WDM on chip. The
cross-sectional dimensions for the Y-junction arms are 250 nm × 450 nm (height × width)
for arm A, 250 nm × 550 nm for arm B, and 250 nm × 1 µm for the MM-WG link (Fig.
9.6). At λ = 1550 nm, this choice of geometry results in MCF = 4.4/θ (where here θ is
in degrees) and therefore acts as a mode sorter for θ < 9◦ . An angle of θ = 3◦ is chosen,
CH1 input (Arm A) CH2 input (Arm B)

0
Crosstalk (dB)
-10
-20 λ1 λ2 λ3 λ4 λ5
-30
1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 9.7: (a) Spectral response of the crosstalk port, Arm 4 (Arm 3) in the demux for launching
into Arm 1 (Arm 2) of the mux. Low crosstalk dips are observed at specic wavelengths, which are
chosen for MDM and MDM-WDM demonstrations with low power penalties.
corresponding to MCF of 1.3. The length of the MM-WG is chosen to be LMM = 1.2 mm.
The device is subsequently fabricated using the same method as in Ch. 2 [146], which
includes 100 keV e-beam lithography with hydrogen silsesquioxane resist and HBr/Cl induc-
tively coupled plasma etching to isolate the Si devices. The chip is completely clad with
SiO2 deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. For this design, the rst
even (odd) QTM mode of the MM-WG has an eective index of ne,e = 2.20 (ne,o = 1.90)
and a group index of ng,e = 4.44 (ng,o = 4.70) at λ = 1550 nm. Therefore, observation
of a reduced demultiplexed crosstalk in the demux for wavelengths where ∆φe,0 = m2π is
expected, which occurs for wavelengths that satisfy
2πLMM |ne,e − ne,o |

∆φe,0 = = m2π, (9.7)
λ
with a free spectral range of
λ2

(9.8)

∆λFSR =
.
LMM (ng,e − ng,o )
as the wavelength is varied between λ = 1520 nm and 1620 nm. For the asymmetric Y-
junction used here, and for port-A (port-B) excitation, port-C (port-D) is dened as the
through-port and port-D (port-C) is dened as the cross-port. The results reveal spectral
regions where the crosstalk is as low as −30 dB, consistent with wavelengths that satisfy
Eq. (9.7). The ∆λFSR near λ = 1550 nm matches well with Eq. (9.8). Nearly identical
spectral responses for exciting either arm of the mux are also observed, demonstrating equal
eectiveness of muxing/demuxing the even mode as muxing/demuxing the odd mode. For the
remainder of this section, the wavelengths associated with low are utilized for demonstrating
both MDM and MDM-WDM with minimal BER power penalties at the receiver.
Figure 9.7 shows spectral scans of the demultiplexed crosstalk, , found by coupling a
tunable laser into either port-A or port-B of the mux, and measuring the ratio of the power
exiting the cross-port (Px ) to the power exiting the through-port (Pt ) of the demux,
Px
= . (9.9)
Pt
The muxing and demuxing action can be directly observed by looking at the surface-
scattered light via an IR camera, as shown in Fig. 9.8. Figure 9.8(a) shows the general
mux/demux principle of operation, where each channel is launched into the 1.2-mm-long
MM-WG using a dierent arm of the asymmetric Y-junction. Figure 9.8(b) demonstrates
only one of the arms being illuminated, exciting the MM-WG, and then only one arm of the
output MDM demux dropping light o chip. Similarly, Fig. 9.8(c) shows only the bottom
arm being illuminated, and only the bottom arm of the demux dropping light o chip. When
both arms are used simultaneously, Fig. 9.8(d) shows full muxing and demuxing of two MDM
channels.
1.2 mm
CH1 CH1 ON
CH2 CH2 ON a
CH1 CH1 ON
b
CH2 OFF
CH1 OFF
CH2 c
CH2 ON
CH1 CH1 ON
d
CH2 CH2 ON
Figure 9.8: (a) Schematic showing muxing and demuxing of dierent MDM channels. Top view of
IR camera for (b) CH1 ON CH2 OFF, (c) CH1 OFF CH2 ON, and (d) both MDM channels ON.
9.6 MDM and MDM-WDM Experimental Setups
PC 5.5 km SMF
TL PS
λ1 50%
CLOCK Modulator EDFA
λ2 P2 ISO P1
WDM
500 m SMF 1%
P2 PM
P1 S1 S2 PS 99%
BERT λ3
50%
1%
PPG PM
PM
LA 99%
PM BPF EDFA BPF SOI Chip
10% 10% LTF
PIN-TIA α 10% PROFA
90% 90%
VOA 90% 0.5 nm 0.5 nm
DCA
Optical Connection Electrical Connection
Figure 9.9: Experimental diagram: BERT = bit-error-rate-tested, LA = limiting amplier, PC

= polarization controller, TL = tunable laser, PPG = pulsed-pattern-generator, EDFA = erbium
doped ber amplier, ISO = isolator, P = position, S = switch, PS = polarization splitter, PM
= power meter, PROFA = pitch-reducing optical ber array, LTF = lensed-tapered-ber, BPF =
bandpass lter, VOA = variable optical attenuator, DCA = digital communications analyzer.
The experimental setup used to demonstrate both 2 × 10-Gb/s MDM (20 Gb/s aggregate
bandwidth) and 2 × 3 × 10-Gb/s MDM-WDM (60 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) is shown in
Fig. 9.9. For MDM, light from a tunable laser is passed through a polarization controller
(PC), modulated with a LiNbO3 modulator, and encoded with a 215 -1 PRBS generated by a
pulsed-pattern generator (PPG). The signal is amplied with an erbium-doped ber amplier
(EDFA) and passed through an optical isolator (ISO) before a 50%/50% ber splitter splits
the signal into two tributaries. The tributaries are decorrelated from one another with a 5.5
km spool of standard single-mode-ber (SMF-28) placed in one arm, which supplies > 15
bit-slots of delay between neighboring wavelength channels. The state-of-polarization (SOP)
of each path is controlled with a PC, inline polarization splitter (PS) and another PC before
being connected to separate input channels of a pitch-reducing optical ber array (PROFA).
The power in each arm can be adjusted for the purpose of balancing the demultiplexed
crosstalk by using the PC to rotate the SOP with respect to the PS within each tributary.
The power in each tributary is monitored with a 1% tap. Each input of the PROFA produces
a 10 µm (1/e2 ) mode eld diameter output, where each channel is spatially separated by
38 µm. The pitch of the PROFA matches the pitch of the on-chip inverse-taper mode
converters fabricated at the input facet of each arm of the Y-junction MDM mux. A lensed-
tapered ber (LTF) is used at the output facet to select one of the two arms of the MDM
demux for characterization, which are also fabricated with inverse-taper mode converters.
The outcoupled power is monitored with a 10% tap, and the remaining signal is passed
through a tunable band-pass-lter (BPF) to suppress amplied spontaneous emission (ASE)
noise from the EDFA, then a low noise gure EDFA, and followed by another tunable BPF
used to suppress ASE noise. A 90%/10% tap is used to send the optical signal to a digital
communications analyzer (DCA) and variable optical attenuator (VOA) respectively. The
DCA is used to produce eye diagrams, and the VOA controls the detected power for bit-
error-rate (BER) measurements. A 10% tap monitors the power output from the VOA and
the remaining signal is detected with an avalanche photodiode. The electrical data signal is
sent to a transimpedence amplier followed by a limiting amplier (LA), and the signal from
the LA is sent to a BER tester (BERT). The other MDM channel is then characterized by
moving the LTF to the other port of the demux while keeping the rest of the experimental
setup unaltered, including PCs and PROFA ber alignment.
The dierences between the MDM and MDM-WDM setups are illustrated in Fig. 9.9 by
the two switches (S1 and S2), where if both S1 and S2 are in position 2, the experimental
setup is congured for MDM. If both S1 and S2 are set to position 1, then the setup is
congured for MDM-WDM. The experimental setup for the MDM-WDM is the same as
the MDM setup, with the exception of instead of using a single tunable laser, the source
is generated with three lasers tuned to three dierent wavelengths and combined into a
single ber with a ber-optic wavelength-division-multiplexer. All the wavelengths are then
patterned simultaneously in the LiNbO3 modulator. An additional 5.5 km spool of SMF is
inserted between the ISO and 50%/50% ber splitter in order to decorrelate each wavelength
channel by ∼ 90 ps/nm. The remaining experimental setup remains the same, and the two
BPF are tuned to isolate one wavelength channel at a time for optical eye and BER analysis.
9.7 MDM and MDM-WDM Results and Discussion
9.7.1 2 × 10-Gb/s MDM Transmission

The experimental setup shown in Fig. 9.9 (in the single-laser conguration) was used to
explore on-chip MDM transmission in a MM-WG. A single CW laser source is rst coupled
into one of the arms of the mux by using one input channel of the PROFA. In this con-
guration, when light is launched into arm A (arm B) with power PA (PB ), the signal is
optimally dropped through arm C (arm D) (through-port) with power PAC (PBD ); power
dropped through arm D (arm C) (cross-port) with power PAD (PBC ) represent a source of
crosstalk and a consequential BER receiver sensitivity penalty. The expected crosstalk, , for
the MDM channel in arm C and arm D of the demux can then be found from the measured
out-coupled powers by C = PAD /PAC and D = PBC /PBD respectively. From the measured
crosstalk, the expected BER power penalty (PP) can be calculated by Eq. (9.2).
In order to ensure that each MDM channel incurs the same PP at the receiver, the input
powers PA and PB must be adjusted such that C = D . This in eect equalizes crosstalk
such that any insertion loss or propagation loss imbalance does not lead to an imbalance
the the power-penalty at the receiver. This equalization procedure can be accomplished by
nding a power oset, ∆P :
PBC + PBD − PAC − PAD

∆P [dBm] = [dBm], (9.10)
2
and then setting PA → PA + ∆P or PB → PB − ∆P , which successfully results in a balanced
PP for both MDM channels. Note that in the case of equal total insertion loss between
both through-ports and both cross-ports, the system is balanced for PA = PB and ∆P = 0;
however fabrication variations in the inverse-taper mode-converter, dierences in propagation
loss between the dierent arms of the Y-junctions, and mode-dependent propagation loss in
the MM-SiWG all contribute to variations in the insertion loss. Therefore applying Eq. 9.10
allows for the equalization of the crosstalk-induced PP.
Five dierent wavelengths are targeted to demonstrate MDM transmission, corresponding
to wavelengths denoted by λ1 through λ5 in Fig. 9.7, which correspond to the measured low-
crosstalk dips. For each wavelength, the out-coupled powers are rst measured in order to
calculate ∆P , as listed in Table 9.1. Then, the launched power is adjusted by altering the
laser power and through slight adjustments of the PC before the PS in each tributary.
Table 9.1: MDM: Measured demuxed power levels for each wavelength channel, through
each of the two arms of the MDM demux: PAC , PAD , PBD , PBC , PAD , and PBC represent
demultiplexed crosstalk at the receiver. Crosstalk imbalance resulting from insertion
loss imbalance is equalized by nding ∆P and using Eq. (9.10). The balanced XT after
equalization is given by the column.
λ PAC PAD PBD PBC ∆P
(nm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm)
1535 −19.9 −40.0 −19.5 −43.0 −1.30 −21.8
1543 −16.5 −44.5 −19.0 −42.5 −0.25 −25.7
1551 −16.5 −39.6 −18.9 −41.7 −2.25 −23.0
1561 −15.9 −49.5 −18.2 −53.0 −2.90 −34.2
1570 −16.5 −43.7 −18.5 −43.4 −0.85 −26.0
Once the ∆P equalization factor is found, then the power launched into arm A is altered
by PA → PA + ∆P . After balancing the power in each arm using this method, BER
measurements and eye diagrams can be obtained as detailed in Section 9.6.
At each wavelength, ve BER curves are obtained corresponding to the following cases:
1. The baseline back-to-back (B2B) found by bypassing the PROFA and Si chip.
2. The MDM channel dropped into arm C of the demux for the case of PB = 0 and PA
ON.
3. The MDM channel dropped into arm D of the demux for the case of PA = 0 and PB
ON.
4. The MDM channel dropped into arm C of the demux when data is launched into both
arms of the mux, both PA and PB ON.

B2B CH1 demuxed, CH2 OFF CH2 demuxed, CH1 OFF CH1 demuxed, CH2 ON CH2 demuxed, CH1 ON
6 λ = 1535 nm λ = 1543 nm λ = 1551 nm λ = 1561 nm λ = 1570 nm

7
-log(BER)
10
11
a b c d e
12
-30 -29 -28 -27 -30 -29 -28 -27 -31 -30 -29 -28 -27 -26 -30 -29 -28 -27 -30 -29 -28 -27
Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm)
Figure 9.10: BER curves showing the back-to-back (B2B) bypassing the chip, MDM CH1 and CH2
demuxed individually, and MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed simultaneously for λ = (a) 1535 nm (b)
1543 nm, (c) 1551 nm (d) 1561 nm (e) 1570 nm, and the corresponding eye diagrams. Together,
these BER plots show 2 × 10 Gb/s MDM (20 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) at 5 dierent wavelengths.
The two MDM channels have a measured 10−9 BER penalty (MDM CH1 PP/MDM CH2 PP) of
0.60 dB/0.70 dB, 0.40 dB/0.50 dB, 0.70 dB/0.70 dB, 0.20 dB/0.10 dB, and 0.30 dB/0.40 dB for
λ = 1535 nm, 1543 nm, 1551 nm, 1561 nm, and 1570 nm respectively, as listed in Table 9.2.
5. The MDM channel dropped into arm D of the demux when data is launched into both
arms of the mux, both PA and PB ON.
Figure 9.10 shows the BER measurement results. The BER curves for case 1, 2, and 3 all
overlap, which is expected since no crosstalk channel exists in these congurations, verifying
that no additional BER PP is introduced by the Si chip itself. A PP is observed, however,
when both channels of the mux are ON simultaneously. This is a direct result of coherent
crosstalk in the demux between the two MDM channels.

The PP at BER = 10−9 (demuxed MDM CH1 PP/demuxed MDM CH2 PP) of 0.60
dB/0.70 dB, 0.40 dB/0.50 dB, 0.70 dB/0.70 dB, 0.20 dB/0.10 dB, and 0.30 dB/0.40 dB for
λ = 1535 nm, 1543 nm, 1551 nm, 1561 nm, and 1570 nm respectively, as listed in Table
9.2. These measured PP's match well with the expected PP values of 0.77 dB/0.77 dB, 0.48
dB/0.48 dB, 0.66 dB/0.66 dB, 0.17 dB/0.17 dB, and 0.46 dB/0.46 dB for λ = 1535 nm, 1543
nm, 1551 nm, 1561 nm, and 1570 nm respectively based on the measured crosstalk values
from Fig. 9.7 using Eq. (9.2) after crosstalk equalization by Eq. (9.10) (see Table 9.1 and
Table 9.2).
Clear and open eye diagrams are also observed for each MDM channel at each wavelength
(Fig. 9.10), and a slight spread in the one-rail can be observed as a result of coherent
crosstalk.
Table 9.2: 2 × 10Gb/s MDM (20 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) PP's: Measured 10−9
BER PP for both MDM channels at 5 dierent wavelengths. Expected PP column
shows the expected penalty from using the XT numbers from Table 9.1 in conjunction
with Eq. (9.2). Measured PP values are extracted from complementary error-function
tting of experimental data points as shown in Fig. 9.10.
MDM Channel λ Expected PP Measured PP
(#) (nm) (dBm) (dBm)
1 1535 0.77 0.60
2 1535 0.77 0.70
1 1543 0.48 0.40
2 1543 0.48 0.50
1 1551 0.66 0.70
2 1551 0.66 0.70
1 1561 0.17 0.20
2 1561 0.17 0.10
1 1570 0.46 0.30
2 1570 0.46 0.40
These BER results demonstrate successful 2 × 10-Gb/s MDM multiplexing at each wave-
length, corresponding to an aggregate bandwidth of 20 Gb/s for the on-chip MM-WG link,
with 10−9 BER PP's as low as 0.1 dB 0.2 dB for λ = 1561 nm, associated with a MDM
mux/demux pair with demultiplexed crosstalk of ∼ −34.2 dB. All 5 wavelengths exhibited
10−9 BER PP's < 0.7 dB/channel and levels of crosstalk < −21.8 dB.
9.7.2 2 × 3 × 10-Gb/s MDM-WDM Transmission

Using the same MDM mux/demux pair, as used for the MDM demonstration in Sec. 9.7.1,
MDM-WDM could be realized by using multiple low-crosstalk wavelengths found in the
transmission experiment shown in Fig. 9.7. In this way, 2 × 10 Gb/s MDM could be utilized
at each of M wavelengths, simultaneous wavelength multiplexed in each arm of the PROFA,
to achieve 2 × M × 10 Gb/s MDM-WDM link with an aggregate bandwidth of 20M Gb/s.
In principle, all 5 wavelengths used to characterize MDM with low PP's could be used
for 2 × 5 × 10 Gb/s MDM-WDM with an aggregate bandwidth of 100 Gb/s, however the
relatively large insertion loss experienced in practice using the PROFA, which was not well
mode-matched to the on-chip inverse-taper mode-converters, lead to a power-limited system,
and competition for the gain of the pre-chip EDFA. Therefore, 3 of the wavelengths were
used instead, for a demonstration of a 2 × 3 × 10 Gb/s MDM-WDM on-chip link, with an
aggregate bandwidth of 60 Gb/s.
Experimentally, the experimental setup had to be adapted according to Fig. 9.9 with
S1 → P1 and S2 → P1 . This change added three laser sources which were multiplexed with
a ber wavelength-division-multiplexer, and a 5.5 km spool of SMF-28 in one tributary in
order to decorrelate the dierent WDM channels; the additional 5.5 km spool was necessary
since the all wavelength channels were modulated with the same modulator. The two MDM
channels were further decorrelated with the 500 m spool of SMF-28 inserted into one of the
tributaries in the same way as the MDM experiment. The combination of 5.5 km spool and
500 m spool of SMF-28 allow for all 6 data channels to be decorrelated from one another.
Table 9.3: MDM-WDM: Measured demuxed power levels for each wavelength channel,
through each of the two arms of the MDM demux: PAC , PAD , PBD , PBC , PAD , and PBC
represent demultiplexed crosstalk at the receiver. Crosstalk imbalance resulting from
insertion loss imbalance is equalized by nding ∆P and using Eq. (9.10). The balanced
XT after equalization is given by the column.
λ PAC PAD PBD PBC ∆P
(nm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm)
1543 −21.5 −47.0 −22.8 −45.5 −0.10 −24.1
1551 −19.7 −43.7 −23.2 −45.0 −2.40 −22.9
1561 −23.1 −53.0 −23.0 −55.0 −0.95 −30.95
For each wavelength, the two MDM channels had to be equalized from the perspective
of demultiplexed crosstalk, in the same way as described in Sec. 9.7.1 and through Eq.
(9.10). This was done by again nding ∆P , as shown in Table 9.3, and adjusting the PC in
each tributary before the PS. Since independent control of the power levels of all 6 channels
was not available due to the fact the two MDM channels at each wavelength were derived
from the same source, and all 6 channels were modulated by the same modulator, slight
adjustments of the PC before the PS was performed to balance each wavelength channel
before the corresponding BER measurement. This mimicked a true MDM-WDM system
where each channel would be derived from a separate modulator. Furthermore, the three
wavelength channels were ∼ power equalized, such that they experienced similar levels of
gain from the EDFA. This was done using the power controls on each laser.
Figure 9.11 shows the resulting BER measurements. For each of the three wavelengths, 5
curves are again shown, the same as listed in Sec. 9.7.1. The bit dierence between the BER
curves in Fig. 9.11 and the BER curves in Fig. 9.10, is that for the MDM demonstration,
only one laser was used at a time, while for MDM-WDM, all three laser sources were muxed
simultaneously into the MM-WG, and post-chip lters were used for WDM demuxing before
each BER curve was obtained.

B2B CH1 demuxed, CH2 OFF CH2 demuxed, CH1 OFF CH1 demuxed, CH2 ON CH2 demuxed, CH1 ON
6 λ1 = 1543 nm λ2 = 1551 nm λ3 = 1561 nm
7
8
-log(BER)
10
11 a c
b
12
-30 -29 -28 -27 -31 -30 -29 -28 -27 -26 -30 -29 -28 -27
Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm) Received Power (dBm)
Figure 9.11: BER curves showing B2B bypassing the chip, MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed individ-
ually, and MDM CH1 and CH2 demuxed simultaneously, and for simultaneously demuxing WDM
λ = (a) 1543 nm (b) 1551 nm, (c) 1561 nm, and the corresponding eye diagrams. Taken together,
these BER plots demonstrates 2 × 3 × 10 Gb/s MDM-WDM (60 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) using
2 modal channels, and 6 wavelength channels all at 10 Gb/s, with measured power penalties of the
6 multiplexed data channels of only 0.70 dB, 0.60 dB, 0.70 dB, 0.70 dB, 0.10 dB, and 0.10 dB as
shown in Table 9.4.
Table 9.4 shows the resulting PP's measured for each of the 6 channels muxed simulta-
neously, which were found to be (MDM CH1 PP/MDM CH2 PP) 0.70 dB/0.60 dB, 0.70
dB/0.70 dB, and 0.10 dB/0.10 dB at WDM channels of 1543 nm, 1551 nm, and 1561 nm,
respectively.
These BER results demonstrate successful 2 × 3 × 10-Gb/s MDM-WDM multiplexing,
corresponding to an aggregate bandwidth of 60 Gb/s for the on-chip MM-WG link, with
10−9 BER PP's as low as 0.1 dB. All 6 demultiplexed data channels exhibited PP's < 0.7
dB/channel.
Table 9.4:Measured 10−9 BER PP for all 6 MDM-WDM channels. Expected PP column
shows the expected penalty from using the XT numbers from Table 9.3 in conjunction
with Eq. (9.2). Measured PP values are extracted from complementary error-function
tting of experimental data points as shown in Fig. 9.11.
MDM Channel λ Expected PP Measured PP
(#) (nm) (dBm) (dBm)
1 1543 0.58 0.70
2 1543 0.58 0.60
1 1551 0.67 0.70
2 1551 0.67 0.70
1 1561 0.25 0.10
2 1561 0.25 0.10
9.8 Conclusions
The utility of asymmetric Y-junctions for compact on-chip interconnects supporting MDM
multiplexing schemes has been demonstrated in this chapter. Devices were fabricated, show-
ing crosstalk at the receiver < −30 dB, which was realized by taking advantage of coherently
suppressed crosstalk at specic target wavelengths. This suppression was found to be due
to destructive interference in the crossport, in an equivalent fashion to the destructive port
in an MZI. The Y-junctions were thus suitable for MDM multiplexers and demultiplexers,
and a full systems level demonstration with a 2 × 10−Gb/s (20 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth)
MDM link, and a 2 × 3 × 10−Gb/s (60 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth) MDM-WDM link is
shown, each using an on-chip Si MM-WG. 10−9 BER penalties < 0.7 dB/channel for the
MDM-WDM demonstration was observed, and PP's as low as 0.10 dB were measured. Thus,
when coupled with other multimode devices such waveguide bends designed for MDM [314],
asymmetric Y-junctions can serve as a simple means towards building robust Si muxes and
demuxes for MDM to enable further optical aggregate bandwidth scaling at the chip level.
10 Conclusions
The preceding chapters have introduced Si waveguides on SOI as a powerful platform for
many diverse applications. In the near term, solutions based on Si photonics are carving
a foothold in datacom transceivers, fueled by the continued growth of datacenter capacity
and required reach. One of the fundamental characteristics that make Si waveguides such an
attractive option for future transcievers is tight packing density and small device footprints.
This is enabled by the high index-contrast inherent to SOI, and the resulting tightly conned
guided modes.
Interestingly, tightly conned guided modes in Si waveguides also result in truly unique
and interesting physics, opening up Si photonics to completely new devices and applications.
This thesis has pointed out some of the new optical physics that describe these systems, espe-
cially enhanced third-order nonlinearities, extreme modal sensitivity to waveguide geometry,
dispersion proles that can be engineered and controlled by tailoring waveguide geometry
both translationally and longitudinally, the induction of large longitudinal eld components
and the relation between Ez and group velocity, and the interplay between the Kerr non-
linearity, TPA, FCA, and FCD. These considerations show a fertile future for on-chip Si
photonics where all-optical control can be engineered into integrated devices. This thesis
has introduced how XPM can be used for ultra-fast signal processing, and how FWM can
be used to translate signals across disparate spectral regimes. Modulating the waveguide
geometry in turn allows dispersion and nonlinearity to be modulated, resulting in a QPM
188
CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSIONS 189
approach for FWM. And nally, tight connement allows multimode waveguides to be de-
signed that feature very dierent wave vectors for each mode, allowing on-chip MDM to be
a viable future path towards increased aggregate bandwidth as photonics approaches the
CPU.
There are many challenges left with realizing some of these ideas in mature devices, but
the same could have been said about Si photonics from the perspective of transceivers not so
long ago. When I started Si photonics research, there were a lot of legitimate questions about
the feasibility of integrating all the complex components necessary to make a commercially
robust system in a single integrated form-factor. The aforementioned components reported
in the literature were tremendously sensitive to fabrication variance, wavelength variation,
and temperature gradients, and they all seemed to have a critical drawback such as requiring
slightly more power than was tolerable on a commercial scale, or producing slightly more
heat than was required to truly support a viable system.
The process of rening these photonic devices required cutting-edge understanding of
very broad and fundamental technologies: nanoscale semiconductor fabrication where just
a handful of atoms in any one of a dozen of processes can make the dierence between a
device meeting specication, the integration of highspeed electronics with the very fastest
highspeed RF electronics, the quantum interaction between particles of light and complex
materials, the limitations of modulation bandwidth demanded by fundamental physics, the
vectoral nature of the photon when it is compressed to sub-wavelength dimensions, and
the bevy of eects emerging from the nonlinear interaction between light and matter. But
researchers continued to march forward, and just during my time in graduate school, I
witnessed thousands of modest contributions amount to a huge step forward.
I expect progress to continue, because Si photonics has a lot of forward potential, and
CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSIONS 190
not only the nonlinear and multiplexing concepts described in this thesis, but also in terms
of ultra-sensitive sensors, biomedical analysis, particle manipulation, labs-on-chip, and the
fundamental drive to reduce optical components to their smallest and simplest forms.
Tomorrow, the lessons learned from studying nanoscale photonics will have a real impact
on the way we communicate at every level, the way computers communicate behind the
scenes, the way information is manipulated, and the way we interact with, understand, and
sense the world around us.

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A List of Publications
A.1 Peer Reviewed Journals

1. J. B. Driscoll, C. P. Chen, R. R. Grote, B. Souhan, J. I. Dadap, A. Stein, M. Lu,
K. Bergman, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "MDM and MDM-WDM transmission through
a Si waveguide with power penalties < 0.7 dB/channel," Optics Express (submitted)
(2014).
2. B. Souhan, R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, M. Lu, A. Stein, H. Bakru, and R. M.
Osgood, Jr., "Metal-semiconductor-metal ion-implanted Si waveguide photodetectors
for C-band operation," Optics Express (submitted) (2014).
3. S. Lavdas, J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, R. M. Osgood, Jr., N. C. Panoiu, "Pulse
compression in adiabatically tapered silicon photonic wires," Optics Express (accepted)
(2014).
4. S. Lavdas, J. B. Driscoll, H. Jiang, R. R. Grote, R. M. Osgood, Jr., N. C. Panoiu,
"Generation of parabolic similaritons in tapered silicon photonic wires: Comparison of
pulse dynamics at telecom and mid-infrared wavelengths," Optics Letters 38, 3953
3956 (2013).
5. R. R. Grote, K. Padmaraju, B. Souhan, J. B. Driscoll, K. Bergman, and R. M. Os-
good, Jr., "10 Gb/s error-free operation of all-silicon ion-implanted-waveguide photo-
diodes at 1.55 µm," Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE 25, 6770 (2013).
6. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, B. Souhan, J. I. Dadap, M. Lu, and R. M. Osgood Jr.,
"Asymmetric Y-junctions in silicon waveguides for on-chip mode-division-multiplexing,"
Optics Letters (2013).
7. R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Integrated optical modulators and
switches using coherent perfect loss," Optics letters 38, 30013004 (2013).
8. R. R. Grote, S. J. Brown, J. B. Driscoll, R. M. Osgood, Jr., and J. A. Schuller,
"Morphology-dependent light trapping in thin-lm organic solar cells," Optics Express
21, A847A863 (2013).
9. J. B. Driscoll, N. Ophir, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, K. Bergman, and
R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Width-modulation of Si photonic wires for quasi-phase-matching
of four-wave-mixing: Experimental and theoretical demonstration," Optics Express
20, 92279242 (2012).
219
APPENDIX A. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 220
10. X. Liu, J. B. Driscoll, J. I. Dadap, R. M. Osgood, S. Assefa, Y. A. Vlasov, and W. M.

Green, "Self-phase modulation and nonlinear loss in silicon nanophotonic wires near
the mid-infrared two-photon absorption edge," Optics Express 19, 77787789 (2011).
11. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, R. M. Osgood, Jr.,

et al., "Directionally anisotropic Si nanowires: On-chip nonlinear grating devices in
uniform waveguides," Optics Letters 36, 14161418 (2011).
12. R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, C. G. Biris, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, "Weakly
modulated silicon-dioxide-cladding gratings for silicon waveguide Fabry-Pérot cavi-
ties," Optics Express 19, 2640626415 (2011).
13. W. Astar, J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, W. M. J. Green, Y. A. Vlasov, G. M.

Carter, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "All-optical format conversion of NRZ-OOK to RZ-
OOK in a silicon nanowire utilizing either XPM or FWM and resulting in a receiver
sensitivity gain of ∼ 2.5 dB," Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal
of 16, 234249 (2010).
14. J. B. Driscoll, W. Astar, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, W. M. Green, Y. A. Vlasov, G. M.

Carter, and R. M. Osgood, "All-optical wavelength conversion of 10 Gb/s RZ-OOK
data in a silicon nanowire via cross-phase modulation: Experiment and theoretical
investigation," Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of 16, 1448
1459 (2010).
15. W. Astar, J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, W. M. Green, Y. Vlasov, G. M.

Carter, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Tunable wavelength conversion by XPM in a silicon
nanowire, and the potential for XPM-multicasting," Lightwave Technology, Journal of
28, 24992511 (2010).
16. W. Astar, J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, W. M. Green, Y. A. Vlasov, G. M.
Carter, and R. M. Osgood, "Conversion of 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK to RZ-OOK utilizing
XPM in a Si nanowire," Optics Express 17, 1298712999 (2009).
17. J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, S. Yasseri, I. -W. Hsieh, J. I. Dadap, and R. M. Osgood, Jr.,
"Large longitudinal electric elds (Ez ) in silicon nanowire waveguides," Optics Express
17, 27972804 (2009).
A.2 Conference Proceedings

1. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, B. Souhan, J. I. Dadap, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Demon-
stration of selective mode multiplexing/de-multiplexing in a multimode silicon waveg-
uides via asymmetric Y-junctions: Towards on-chip MDM," in CLEO: QELS Funda-
mental Science, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. JTu4A29.
2. B. Souhan, R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, H. Bakhru, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "CMOS

compatible argon-ion-implanted C-band silicon waveguide photodetector," in CLEO:
Science and Innovations, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. CTh3L3.
3. B. Souhan, C. Chen, R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, N. Ophir, K. Bergman, and R. M.
Osgood, Jr., "Error-free operation of an all-silicon waveguide photodiode at 1.9 µm,"
in CLEO: Science and Innovations, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. CTh3L4.
4. R. R. Grote, X. Meng, J. B. Driscoll, N. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Design

method for critically coupling into a weakly absorbing 1d photonic crystal cavity," in
CLEO: QELS Fundamental Science, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. JTu4A
41.
5. R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Amplitude modulation by

coherent perfect loss," in Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics,
(Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. IW4A3.
6. S. Lavdas, J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, R. M. Osgood, Jr., and N. C. Panoiu, "Gen-

eration and collision of optical similaritons in dispersion-engineered silicon photonic
nanowires," in SPIE NanoScience+ Engineering, (International Society for Optics and
Photonics, 2013), pp. 88160J88160J.
7. B. Souhan, R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, X. Meng, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Metal-

semiconductor-metal monolithic silicon-waveguide photodiode design and analysis," in
Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. FM3E3.
8. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, B. Souhan, Y. Liu, J. I. Dadap, and R. M. Osgood, Jr.,
"Silicon multiplexers/demultiplexers for on-chip mode division multiplexing based on
asymmetric Y-junctions," in Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2013),
pp. FM3E4.
9. C. P. Chen, J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, Y. Liu, R. M. Osgood, Jr., and K. Bergman,

"60-Gb/s mode division multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing in Si mul-
timode waveguides," in Optical Communication (ECOC 2013), 39th European Confer-
ence and Exhibition on, (IET, 2013), pp. 13.
10. S. Lavdas, J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, R. M. Osgood, Jr., and N. C. Panoiu, "Soliton
pulse compression in adiabatically tapered silicon photonic wires," in CLEO/Europe-
IQEC, (Optical Society of America, 2013), pp. CD-121.
11. J. B. Driscoll, N. Ophir, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. Panoiu, K. Bergman, and
R. M. Osgood, Jr., "First demonstration of quasi-phase-matched four-wave-mixing in
silicon waveguides," in CLEO: Science and Innovations, (Optical Society of America,
2012), pp. CW1A1.
12. R. R. Grote, K. Padmaraju, J. B. Driscoll, B. Souhan, K. Bergman, and R. M. Os-

good, Jr., "10 gb/s error-free operation of an all-silicon C-band waveguide photodiode,"
in CLEO: Science and Innovations, (Optical Society of America, 2012), pp. CTu1A4.
13. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr.,
"Quasi-phase-matching for broadband discrete mid-IR FWM in width-modulated Si
photonicwire waveguides," in Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophoton-
ics, (Optical Society of America, 2012), pp. IM4B3.
14. R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Ultra-compact
silicon waveguide photodetectors utilizing critically-coupled photonic crystal cavities
at 1.55 µm," in Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics, (Optical
Society of America, 2012), pp. IW3C6.
15. J. B. Driscoll, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Quasi-
phase-matched four-wave-mixing seeded by modulation instability in slab-modulated
silicon nanowires," in Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2012), pp.
FM4E7.
16. B. Souhan, R. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Ion-implanted
silicon-waveguide avalanche photodiode with separate absorption-multiplication region
for C-band operation," in Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2012), pp.
FTu2A5.
17. J. B. Driscoll, R. Grote, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood,
Jr., "Forming a nonlinear grating in silicon nanowire waveguides using the intrinsic
anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity of silicon," in CLEO: Science and Innovations, (Optical
Society of America, 2011), p. CTuS5.
18. R. Grote, J. B. Driscoll, C. G. Biris, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Sil-
icon waveguide Fabry-Perot cavity formed by a silicon dioxide cladding grating," in
Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2011), p. FMB2.
19. J. B. Driscoll, R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Quasi-
phase-matching four-wave-mixing via width-modulated silicon nanowire waveguides,"
in Frontiers in Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2011) p. FThN4.
20. J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, and R. M. Osgood,
Jr., "Enhancing fwm conversion eciency in a silicon waveguide by exploiting phase-
matching via a pump-induced nonlinear grating," in Integrated Photonics Research,
Silicon and Nanophotonics, (Optical Society of America, 2011) p. IMB3.
21. J. B. Driscoll, W. Astar, X. Liu, J. I. Dadap, W. M. Green, Y. A. Vlasov, G. M.
Carter, R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Transparent format conversion of 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK
data to RZ-OOK in a Si photonic-wire waveguide using XPM," in Frontiers in Optics,
(Optical Society of America, 2010), p. FThT6.
22. J. B. Driscoll, W. Astar, X. Liu, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, W. M. Green, Y. A. Vlasov,

G. M. Carter, R. M. Osgood Jr., "Experimental and theoretical demonstration of
wavelength conversion of 10 Gb/s RZ-OOK in a Si nanowire via XPM," in Conference
on Lasers and Electro-Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2010), p. CThN1.
23. J. B. Driscoll, R. Lidor, X. Liu, R. R. Grote, J. I. Dadap, N. C. Panoiu, R. M.
Osgood, Jr., "The eect of the longitudinal electric eld and tensor susceptibility on
the eective nonlinear parameter for silicon nanowire waveguides," in Conference on
Lasers and Electro-Optics, (Optical Society of America, 2010), p. CThW2.
24. X. Liu, J. B. Driscoll, J. I. Dadap, R. M. Osgood Jr, Y. A. Vlasov, W. M. Green et al.,
"Mid-infrared pulse dynamics in Si nanophotonic wires near the two-photon absorption
edge," in Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics, (Optical Society of America, 2009),
p. CFR5.
25. J. B. Driscoll, X. Liu, I.-W. Hsieh, J. I. Dadap, R. M. Osgood, Jr., "Large longitudinal-
electric-elds in single-mode silicon wire waveguides," in Frontiers in Optics, (Optical
Society of America, 2008), p. FThK1.

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in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

All Rights Reserved

Silicon Photonics: All-Optical Devices for Linear and Nonlinear Applications

by milestone achievements in semiconductor processing technologies for low loss waveguides,

high-speed Si modulators, Si lasers, Si detectors, and an enormous toolbox of passive and

the benets of manipulating photons on the nanoscale.

erties of deeply-scaled high-index-contrast sub-wavelength Si waveguides. It is found that

the tight connement inherent to single-mode channel waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator

simple passive interconnects and electro-optic devices.

aected by tight optical connement of the guided waveguide modes.

to contribute no time-averaged momentum. Furthermore, the vectoral modal components, in

large nonlinearity motivates chip-scale all-optical signal processing techniques. Wavelength

conversion by both four-wave-mixing (FWM) and cross-phase-modulation (XPM) will be

through periodic changes in waveguide geometry. This quasi-phase-matching approach has

all-optical modulation format conversion via XPM will also be discussed.

One way to increase aggregate bandwidth is to utilize dierent eigen-modes of a multimode

mode- and wavelength-division-multiplexing will be demonstrated.

List of Figures vii

List of Tables xxii

1.2 Challenges with SOI as a Photonics Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3 Silicon Photonics: Enabling Technologies for the SOI Platform . . . . . . . . 5

1.3.1 Si Photonic Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.3.2 Si Photonic Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.3.3 Electro-Optic Control for Si Photonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.4 Si Photonic Modulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.5 A Toolbox of Si Photonic Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.4 Si Photonics for Nonlinear Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.5 Scope of this Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2 Silicon Waveguide Fabrication 16

2.1.1 Wafer Selection and Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.1.2 Oxide Hard-Mask Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.1.3 HSQ Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.2.1 Cryogenically Cooled SF6 /O2 Etch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

2.2.2 HBr/Cl Si Etch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.3 Fabricated Si Waveguides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.4 Mode Converters for Ecient Coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.4.1 Inverse Tapered Waveguide and Polymer Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.4.2 Inverse Taper with Oxide Cladding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2.5 Propagation Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2.6 Future Paths to Reduced Sidewall Roughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3 Modeling Nonlinear Si Photonic Processes 40

3.1.1 Eective Complex Third-Order Susceptibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3.2 Nonlinear Loss and Carrier Eects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3.2.1 Two-Photon-Absorption (TPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3.2.2 Free-Carrier Absorption (FCA) and Dispersion (FCD) . . . . . . . . 44

3.3 Kerr Nonlinear Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.3.1 Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3.3.2 Cross-Phase-Modulation (XPM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.3.3 Self-Phase-Modulation (SPM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4 Large Longitudinal Electric Fields in Si Waveguides 56

4.2.1 Origin of Longitudinal Modal Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

4.2.2 Longitudinal Components and Energy Transport . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.2.3 Electric and Magnetic Energy Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

4.2.4 Relationship Between Ez , Group Velocity, and Dispersion . . . . . . . 63

4.2.5 Conclusions from Theoretical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.3 Calculation and Optimization of Ez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.4 Harnessing and Controlling the Longitudinal Electric Field . . . . . . . . . . 69

5 Dependence of Waveguide Geometry on Eective Nonlinearity 74

5.2 Mapping the Geometrical-Dependence of γ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Submitted in partial fulllment of the

the benets of manipulating photons on the nanoscale.

the tight connement inherent to single-mode channel waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator

aected by tight optical connement of the guided waveguide modes.

One way to increase aggregate bandwidth is to utilize dierent eigen-modes of a multimode

2.4 Mode Converters for Ecient Coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3.1.1 Eective Complex Third-Order Susceptibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3.2 Nonlinear Loss and Carrier Eects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

5 Dependence of Waveguide Geometry on Eective Nonlinearity 74

wafer by a BOX between 1 µm 3 µm thick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

diamters are observed for the thin lm grown at 400◦ C. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

cladding. Graded yellow and blue colors indicate a π -phase dierence. . . . . 66