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Fabrication and Characterization of High-Q Silicon Nitride Membrane Resonators
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Si-rich Silicon Nitride for Nonlinear Signal Processing Applications.
Cosimo Lacava1, Stevan Stankovic2, Ali Z Khokhar2
1Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, Southampton, UK. c.lacava@soton.ac.uk.
Scientific Reports
|February 4, 2017
Summary
Silicon-rich silicon nitride waveguides overcome two-photon absorption (TPA) limitations in nonlinear photonic devices. This CMOS-compatible platform offers low loss and enhanced nonlinearity for optical communications.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Materials Science
- Nonlinear Optics
Background:
- Nonlinear silicon photonic devices offer miniaturized all-optical signal processing.
- Two-photon absorption (TPA) limits performance in silicon photonics at telecom wavelengths.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a CMOS-compatible platform overcoming TPA limitations.
- To tune linear and nonlinear optical properties of silicon-rich silicon nitride.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication and characterization of silicon-rich silicon nitride waveguides.
- Material deposition parameter optimization.
- Measurement of linear loss and nonlinear Kerr response.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated TPA-free waveguides with low linear loss (~1.5 dB/cm).
- Achieved enhanced Kerr nonlinearity (Re{γ} = 16 Wm⁻¹).
- Obtained a π nonlinear phase shift.
Conclusions:
- Silicon-rich silicon nitride is a promising platform for TPA-free nonlinear photonics.
- The demonstrated waveguides are suitable for optical communication applications.
- Tunable properties enable practical device development.
