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Monolithically integrated erbium-doped polycrystalline Al2O3 waveguide amplifier on silicon photonics platform.
Optics Express
|June 14, 2025
Summary
We integrated an erbium-doped aluminum oxide waveguide amplifier onto a silicon nitride platform for on-chip optical amplification. This advancement enables high-performance photonic integrated circuits with significant gain and broad bandwidth.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Materials Science
- Integrated Optics
Background:
- Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) require efficient on-chip amplification.
- Integrating active gain elements with passive platforms remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate monolithic integration of a polycrystalline Al2O3:Er3+ waveguide amplifier on a passive Si3N4 TriPleX platform.
- To enable high-performance on-chip amplification for advanced PICs.
Main Methods:
- Deposited polycrystalline Al2O3:Er3+ using reactive magnetron co-sputtering.
- Utilized on-chip wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs) for pump and signal power management.
- Bidirectionally pumped the 30 cm waveguide amplifier at 1480 nm.
Main Results:
- Achieved a small-signal net gain exceeding 16 dB.
- Demonstrated a low noise figure of approximately 3 dB.
- Obtained a broad gain bandwidth of 80 nm.
Conclusions:
- The integrated amplifier is compatible with silicon photonics platforms.
- This work represents a significant step towards fully integrated rare-earth-ion-doped amplifiers.
- Enables next-generation active-passive PICs.
