Four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer based on photonic wire waveguide

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Optical communication systems require efficient methods for managing optical signals.
• Reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) are crucial components for flexible network management.
• Silicon photonics offers a promising platform for miniaturized and cost-effective optical devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a novel four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer.
• To utilize silicon photonic wire waveguides and the thermo-optic effect for device control.
• To investigate and report the thermo-optic polarization-rotation effect in such devices.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a silicon photonic wire waveguide device.
• Implementation of thermo-optic control for channel reconfiguration.
• Characterization of device performance, including insertion loss, tuning bandwidth, power efficiency, and tuning speed.

Main Results:

• A four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer with an effective footprint of 1000 x 500 µm² was successfully fabricated.
• The device achieved a minimum insertion loss of 10.7 dB and a tuning bandwidth of approximately 17 nm.
• An average tuning power efficiency of 6.187 mW/nm and a tuning speed of 24.4 kHz were recorded; the thermo-optic polarization-rotation effect was observed.

Conclusions:

• The developed silicon photonic device demonstrates effective reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing capabilities.
• The thermo-optic control mechanism provides efficient and fast channel tuning.
• The first-time reported thermo-optic polarization-rotation effect opens new avenues for integrated photonic device design.