Broadly tunable wideband optical single sideband generation using self-coupled silicon resonator

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• Microwave Photonics

Background:

• Optical single sideband (SSB) generation is crucial for advanced communication systems.
• Traditional SSB generation methods often suffer from complexity, limited tunability, or high power consumption.
• Silicon micro-ring resonators offer a compact and efficient platform for integrated photonic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel tunable broadband optical SSB generation technique.
• To utilize self-coupling in a silicon micro-ring resonator for generating tunable resonance splitting.
• To achieve power-fading-free and error-free data transmission using the developed SSB generator.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication and characterization of a self-coupled silicon micro-ring resonator.
• Exploitation of self-coupling to induce tunable resonance splitting.
• Experimental setup for generating SSB signals from double sideband signals.
• Transmission experiments over 43 km of single-mode optical fiber.
• Bit error rate (BER) analysis for data transmission.

Main Results:

• Successful generation of tunable broadband optical SSB signals.
• Demonstration of power-fading-free transmission over 43 km of optical fiber for RF frequencies from 1-20 GHz.
• Achieved a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of > 99.9±1.05 dB.Hz^2/3.
• Demonstrated error-free data transmission at rates from 1-12 Gbps over 43 km fiber.

Conclusions:

• The proposed self-coupled silicon micro-ring resonator is an effective platform for tunable broadband optical SSB generation.
• The device enables robust and high-performance optical communication links.
• The technology shows potential for extension to higher frequencies and data rates.