1.024 Tb/s wavelength conversion in a silicon waveguide with reverse-biased p-i-n junction

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Optical Communications
• Semiconductor Devices

Background:

• Wavelength conversion is essential for flexible optical network management.
• Silicon photonics offers a promising platform for integrated optical devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate all-optical wavelength conversion of 8 × 32-GBd single-polarization 16QAM signals.
• To evaluate the performance and efficiency of silicon nano-rib waveguides for this application.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a silicon nano-rib waveguide with a p-i-n junction.
• Applying reverse biasing to the waveguide.
• Employing digital coherent reception for signal analysis.

Main Results:

• Achieved a conversion efficiency of -8.5 dB.
• Measured a 3-dB optical bandwidth of approximately 40 nm.
• Demonstrated a receiver optical signal-to-noise ratio penalty of less than 0.6 dB across eight channels.

Conclusions:

• The proposed all-optical wavelength conversion method using silicon nano-rib waveguides is effective.
• The technique shows high efficiency and low signal degradation, suitable for advanced optical communication systems.