Opportunities for visible supercontinuum light generation in integrated diamond waveguides

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Supercontinuum generation (SCG) is crucial for broadband light sources.
• Achieving SCG in the visible (VIS) wavelength range requires precise control over waveguide dispersion.
• Existing platforms like silicon nitride face limitations in achieving the necessary zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) in the VIS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the advantages of diamond-on-insulator (DOI) waveguides for compact VIS SC light sources.
• To demonstrate the suitability of DOI for tailoring dispersion to achieve a ZDW in the VIS.
• To numerically generate a broadband SC in the VIS range using a DOI waveguide.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations of light propagation in waveguides.
• Design of a DOI waveguide with a ZDW targeted at approximately 600 nm.
• Analysis of the generated supercontinuum spectrum and efficiency.

Main Results:

• DOI waveguides provide superior dispersion tailoring capabilities compared to silicon nitride for VIS SCG.
• A DOI waveguide was designed with a ZDW at ~600 nm.
• A smooth SC spanning 453 nm to 1030 nm was numerically generated with high efficiency.

Conclusions:

• The DOI platform is highly suitable for developing compact on-chip VIS SC light sources.
• DOI enables SCG to shorter VIS wavelengths than previously achieved in integrated waveguides.
• The DOI platform offers significant advantages in terms of lower input energy and shorter device length.