Four-port mode-selective silicon optical router for on-chip optical interconnect

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Optical communication systems require efficient signal routing.
• Mode division multiplexing (MDM) offers increased data capacity by utilizing different light modes.
• Passive optical devices are desirable for reduced power consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel four-port mode-selective optical router.
• To leverage mode division multiplexing for passive optical signal routing.
• To evaluate the performance of the router for broadcasting and port-to-port routing applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a mode-selective optical router on a silicon-on-insulator platform.
• Integration of mode multiplexers/demultiplexers and single-mode waveguides.
• Characterization of insertion loss and optical crosstalk across a 1525-1565 nm wavelength range.
• Experimental verification using 40-Gbps bidirectional data transmission.

Main Results:

• The router demonstrated passive operation, consuming no power for link establishment.
• Insertion losses were below 8.0 dB for all optical links.
• Optical crosstalk was below -18.7 dB for broadcasting and -22.0 dB for port-to-port routing.
• Successful 40-Gbps bidirectional data transmission confirmed routing functionality.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated device is a promising building block for passive optical routing.
• Utilizing the dimension of optical modes enables efficient signal management.
• The router supports both broadcasting and reconfigurable port-to-port routing functionalities.