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Optical Bistability in a Tunable Gourd-Shaped Silicon Ring Resonator
Yishu Chen1, Jijun Feng1, Jian Chen1
1Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, Ministry of Education and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Rd, Shanghai 200093, China.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 27, 2022
Summary
This study demonstrates a tunable gourd-shaped ring resonator for optical bistability. This device, featuring coupled rings and a U-shaped waveguide, shows potential for optical information processing applications.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Optical Engineering
- Nonlinear Optics
Background:
- Ring resonators are fundamental components in integrated photonics.
- Optical bistability is crucial for advanced optical signal processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate a tunable gourd-shaped ring resonator for generating optical bistability.
- To investigate the spectral characteristics and tunability of the device.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis using the transfer matrix method.
- Numerical simulation via Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method.
- Fabrication and experimental characterization of the ring resonator device.
Main Results:
- The gourd-shaped resonator enables effective cross-coupling between sub-rings.
- Optical bistability was achieved with an input optical power around 6 mW.
- Spectral profile and extinction ratio are tunable via a microheater, matching theoretical predictions.
Conclusions:
- The demonstrated tunable gourd-shaped ring resonator effectively generates optical bistability.
- The device's tunability and bistability performance are suitable for optical information processing.
- Potential applications include optical storage, switching, and logic operations.
