Silicon photonic switch-based optical equalization for mitigating pulsewidth distortion.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Optical Communications
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Optical transmitters use driver amplifiers, which can introduce pulsewidth distortion.
• This distortion degrades detection sensitivity and limits the overall optical link budget.
• Effective equalization is crucial for high-performance optical communication systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel optical equalization scheme.
• To mitigate driver-amplifier-induced pulsewidth distortion using silicon photonics.
• To enhance detection sensitivity and optimize the optical link budget.

Main Methods:

• A silicon photonic micro-ring resonator (MRR)-based switching circuit was designed and fabricated.
• The circuit integrates spatial optical switching with a two-stage optical bandpass filter for equalization.
• The scheme was experimentally evaluated for its effectiveness in mitigating pulsewidth distortion.

Main Results:

• A 4.5-dB enhancement in detection sensitivity was achieved at a data rate of 12.5 Gbits/s.
• The proposed optical equalization scheme effectively compensated for pulsewidth distortion.
• The system demonstrated robustness to varying distortion levels without complex signal processing.

Conclusions:

• The novel MRR-based optical equalization circuit successfully mitigates driver-amplifier-induced pulsewidth distortion.
• This approach offers significant improvements in detection sensitivity and link budget.
• The adaptable MRR parameters suggest potential for supporting higher data rates in optical communication.