Subwavelength grating enabled on-chip ultra-compact optical true time delay line

An Approach to Reduce Tuning Sensitivity in the PIC-Based Optoelectronic Oscillator by Controlling the Phase Shift in Its Feedback Loop

Radio photonic technologies have emerged as a promising solution for addressing microwave frequency synthesis challenges in current and future communication and sensing systems. One particularly effective approach is the optoelectronic oscillator (OEO), a simple and cost-effective electro-optical system. The OEO can generate microwave signals with low phase noise and high oscillation frequencies, often outperforming traditional electrical methods. However, a notable disadvantage of the OEO compared to conventional signal generation methods is its significant frequency tuning step. This paper presents a novel approach for continuously controlling the output frequency of an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on integrated photonics. This is achieved by tuning an integrated optical delay line within a feedback loop. The analytical model developed in this study calculates the OEO's output frequency while accounting for nonlinear errors, enabling the consideration of various control schemes. Specifically, this study examines delay lines based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and microring resonators, which can be controlled by either the thermo-optic or electro-optic effect. To evaluate the model, we conducted numerical simulations using Ansys Lumerical software. The OEO that utilized an MRR-based electro-optical delay line demonstrated a tuning sensitivity of 174.5 MHz/V. The calculated frequency tuning sensitivity was as low as 6.98 kHz when utilizing the precision digital-to-analog converter with a minimum output voltage step of 40 μV. The proposed approach to controlling the frequency of the OEO can be implemented using discrete optical components; however, this approach restricts the minimum frequency tuning sensitivity. It provides an additional degree of freedom for frequency tuning within the OEO's operating range, which is ultimately limited by the amplitude-frequency characteristic of the notch filter. Thus, the proposed approach opens up new opportunities for increasing the accuracy and flexibility in generating microwave signals, which can be significant for various communications and radio engineering applications.

Continuously tunable silicon optical true-time delay lines with a large delay tuning range and a low delay fluctuation

On-chip switchable optical true-time delay lines (OTTDLs) feature a large group delay tuning range but suffer from a discrete tuning step. OTTDLs with a large delay tuning range and a continuous tuning capability are highly desired. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a silicon-based broadband continuously tunable OTTDL comprising a 7-bit delay line and a switch-based continuously tunable delay line. The group delay of the entire OTTDL can be continuously tuned from 0 to 1020.16 ps. A delay error within -1.27 ps to 1.75 ps, and a delay fluctuation of less than 2.69 ps in the frequency range of 2∼25 GHz are obtained. We analyze the causes of the delay fluctuation and its influence on beamforming. Moreover, we also propose a simplified non-invasive calibration method that can significantly reduce the complexity of the delay state calibration and can be easily extended to delay lines with more stages of optical switches. The high performance of our OTTDL chip and the calibration method drive practical applications of integrated OTTDLs.

Integrated polarization-free Bragg filters with subwavelength gratings for photonic sensing

We present polarization-free Bragg filters having subwavelength gratings (SWGs) in the lateral cladding region. This Bragg design expands modal fields toward upper cladding, resulting in enhanced light interaction with sensing analytes. Two device configurations are proposed and examined, one with index-matched coupling between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes and the other one with hybrid-mode (HM) coupling. Both configurations introduce a strong coupling between two orthogonal modes (either TE-TM or HM1-HM2) and rotate the polarization of the input wave through Bragg reflection. The arrangements of SWGs help to achieve two configurations with different orthogonal modes, while expanding modal profiles toward the upper cladding region. Our proposed SWG-assisted Bragg gratings with polarization independency eliminate the need for a polarization controller and effectively tailor the modal properties, enhancing the potential of integrated photonic sensing applications.

Design, Optimization, and Experimental Evaluation of Slow Light Generated by π-Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating for Use in Sensing Applications

This paper describes design, theoretical analysis, and experimental evaluation of a π-Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating (π-PSFBG) inscribed in the standard telecom fiber for slow light generation. At first, the grating was designed for its use in the reflection mode with a central wavelength of 1552 nm and a pass band width of less than 100 pm. The impact of fabrication imperfections was experimentally investigated and compared to model predictions. The optical spectra obtained experimentally show that the spectral region used for slow light generation is narrower (less than 10 pm), thus allowing for too-low levels of slow light optical-output power. In the next step, the optimization of the grating design was conducted to account for fabrication errors, to improve the grating's spectral behavior and its temporal performance, and to widen the spectral interval for slow light generation in the grating's transmission mode. The targeted central wavelength was 1553 nm. The π-PSFBG was then commercially fabricated, and the achieved parameters were experimentally investigated. For the region of (1551-1554) nm, a 15-fold increase in the grating's pass band width was achieved. We have shown that a pair of retarded optical pulses were generated. The measured group delay was found to be ~10.5 ps (compared to 19 ps predicted by the model). The π-PSFBG operating in its transmission mode has the potential to operate as tunable delay line for applications in RF photonics, ultra-fast signal processing, and optical communications, where tunable high precision delay lines are highly desirable. The π-PSFBG can be designed and used for the generation of variable group delays from tens to hundreds of ps, depending on application needs.

Variable optical true-time delay line breaking bandwidth-delay constraints

Continuously variable true-time optical delay lines are typically subject to a constraint of the bandwidth-delay product, limiting their use in several applications. In this Letter, we propose an integrated topology that breaks the bandwidth-delay product limit. The device is based on multiple Mach-Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs) arranged in parallel, providing easier control and a larger bandwidth compared to ring resonator-based solutions. The functionality of this architecture is demonstrated with a 4-stage delay line by performing measurements in both the time and frequency domains. The delay line introduces a delay of 90 ps over a bandwidth of more than 22 GHz with a negligible group delay distortion, operates on a wavelength range of about 60 nm, and is scalable to a higher number of MZI stages.

Dispersion-Diversity Multicore Fiber Signal Processing

Beyond playing a primary role in high-capacity communication networks, multicore optical fibers can bring many advantages to optical and microwave signal processing, as not only space but also chromatic dispersion are introduced as new degrees of freedom. The key lies in developing radically new multicore fibers where the refractive index profile of each individual core is tailored properly to provide parallel dispersion-diversity signal processing with application in a variety of scenarios such as parallel channel equalization, analogue-to-digital conversion, optical computing, pulse generation and shaping, multiparameter fiber sensing, medical imaging, optical coherence tomography, broadband measurement instrumentation, and next-generation fiber-wireless communications. Here, we experimentally prove, for the first time to our knowledge, reconfigurable two-dimensional dispersion-managed signal processing performed by a novel dispersion-diversity heterogeneous multicore fiber. The fiber comprises seven different trench-assisted cores featuring a different refractive index profile in terms of both radial geometry and core dopant concentration. As a representative application case, we demonstrate reconfigurable microwave signal filtering with increased compactness as well as performance flexibility and versatility as compared to previous technologies.

Low loss silicon nitride 1×4 microwave photonic beamforming chip

In this paper, based on the low loss double strip silicon nitride platform, we designed and fabricated an ultra-low loss 1×4 microwave photonic beamforming chip, which contains a 1×4 beam splitter and four 5-bit optical delay lines. Each optical delay line can achieve 32 delay states varying from 0 ps to about 130 ps, which can support 21 different beamforming angles covers from -56.42° to 56.68° for 10 GHz RF signal. A low on-chip insertion loss of about 4 dB is achieved for each 5-bit optical delay line. Furthermore, a very low loss delay ratio of about 0.0016 dB/ps is achieved and a recorded low loss fluctuation of about 0.3 dB is obtained during the 32 states delay switching. In addition, the switching speed and driving power consumptions of the proposed beamforming chip were investigated. The proposed beamforming chip could have great potential in optical controlled phased antenna arrays systems.

Broadband photonic beam processor for simultaneous beamforming and high-resolution imaging

In this paper, a broadband photonic beam processor is presented for the all-optical multifunction integrated receiver. By implementing echo signals with optical beam multi-domain processing based on space-to-time mapping and time-to-frequency mapping, the non-mechanical control of expected beam pointing is enabled while the target within the beam can be imaged simultaneously. A proof-of-concept experiment with a 4-element phased array is performed in Ka band. The beam pointing is set to be 0° and 12.5°, where two-dimensional images of moving targets inside the beam region are obtained, respectively. The suppression ratio to the beam region outside is measured to be 26.8 dB. And the range and cross-range imaging resolution is 0.042 m × 0.051 m. A comparison with a cascade mode of single-function microwave photonic modules shows that the multifunction integrated photonic beam processor has reduced the system loss by 32.4 dB. The proposed beam processor enables multi-element broadband phased arrays with less complexity and power consumption.

Subwavelength structure enabled ultra-long waveguide grating antenna

Because of the high index contrast, current silicon photonics based optical phased arrays cannot achieve small beam divergence and large field-of-view simultaneously without increasing fabrication complexity. To resolve the dilemma, we propose an ultra-long waveguide grating antenna formed by placing subwavelength segments within the evanescent field of a conventional strip waveguide. Bound state in the continuum effect is leveraged to suppress the sidewall emission. As a proof of concept, we theoretically demonstrated a millimeter-long through-etched waveguide grating antenna with a divergence angle of 0.081° and a feature size compatible with current silicon photonics foundries.

On-chip optical true time delay lines based on subwavelength grating waveguides

An optical true time delay line (OTTDL) is a fundamental building block for signal processing applications in microwave photonics and optical communications. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an index-variable OTTDL based on an array of 40 subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguides in silicon-on-insulator. Each SWG waveguide in the array is 34 mm long and arranged in a serpentine manner; the average incremental delay between waveguides is about 4.7 ps, and the total delay between the first and last waveguides is approximately 181.9 ps. The waveguide array occupies a chip area of ∼6.5mm×8.7mm=56.55mm². The proposed OTTDLs bring potential advantages in terms of compactness as well as operation versatility to a variety of microwave signal processing applications.

Microwave photonic notch filter with integrated phase-to-intensity modulation transformation and optical carrier suppression

We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, an on-chip microwave photonic (MWP) notch filter with high stopband rejection and integrated optical carrier suppression in a phase modulator-based system. The notch filter was achieved through phase modulation to intensity modulation (PM-to-IM) transformation and dual-sideband-processing using a network of three ring resonators (RRs) in a low-loss silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) platform. We show simultaneous PM-to-IM conversion and optical carrier processing for enhancing the filter performance using a single RR. We achieve filtering with a high stopband rejection of >55dB, an optical carrier suppression up to 3 dB, a radio frequency link gain of 3 dB, a noise figure of 31 dB, and a spurious-free dynamic range of 100dB⋅Hz^2/3. These experiments point to the importance of vectorial spectral shaping of an MWP spectrum for advanced functionalities.

Low loss waveguiding and slow light modes in coupled subwavelength silicon Mie resonators

Subwavelength light-guiding optical devices have gained great attention in the photonics community because they provide unique opportunities for miniaturization and functionality of the optical interconnect technology. On the other hand, high-refractive-index dielectric nanoparticles working at their fundamental Mie resonances have recently opened new venues to enhance and control light-matter interactions at the nanoscale while being free from Ohmic losses. Combining the best of both worlds, here we experimentally demonstrate low-loss slow light waveguiding in a chain of coupled silicon Mie resonators at telecommunication wavelengths. This resonant coupling forms waveguide modes with propagation losses comparable to, or even lower than those in a stripe waveguide of the same cross section. Moreover, the nanoparticle waveguide also exhibits slow light behaviour, with group velocities down to 0.03 of the speed of light. These unique properties of coupled silicon Mie resonator waveguides, together with hybrid coupler designs reducing the coupling loss from a bus waveguide, as also shown in this work, may open a path towards their potential applications in integrated photonics for light control in optical and quantum communications or biosensing, to mention some.

Integrated waveguide true time delay beamforming system based on an SOI platform for 28 GHz millimeter-wave communication

In this paper, we propose an on-chip waveguide beamforming system for a 28 GHz millimeter-wave signal based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The system consists of four true time delay (TTD) lines, each of which consists of nine Bragg gratings with different periods. The minimum period of the grating is 312 nm, and the maximum period is 344 nm. By optimizing the position of the Bragg grating in the adjacent TTD lines, a time delay difference can be generated between the adjacent channels. By adjusting the operation wavelength of the optical carrier, the TTD lines can provide 9 different beamforming direction angles from -60^∘ to 60° when the direction angular resolution is 15°. This proposed system has a useful application prospect in the phased array antennas of millimeter-wave communication.

InGaAs Membrane Waveguide: A Promising Platform for Monolithic Integrated Mid-Infrared Optical Gas Sensor

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) absorption spectroscopy based on integrated photonic circuits has shown great promise in trace-gas sensing applications in which the mid-IR radiation directly interacts with the targeted analyte. In this paper, considering monolithic integrated circuits with quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and quantum cascade detectors (QCDs), the InGaAs-InP platform is chosen to fabricate passive waveguide gas sensing devices. Fully suspended InGaAs waveguide devices with holey photonic crystal waveguides (HPCWs) and subwavelength grating cladding waveguides (SWWs) are designed and fabricated for mid-infrared sensing at λ = 6.15 μm in the low-index contrast InGaAs-InP platform. We experimentally detect 5 ppm ammonia with a 1 mm long suspended HPCW and separately with a 3 mm long suspended SWW, with propagation losses of 39.1 and 4.1 dB/cm, respectively. Furthermore, based on the Beer-Lambert infrared absorption law and the experimental results of discrete components, we estimated the minimum detectable gas concentration of 84 ppb from a QCL/QCD integrated SWW sensor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of suspended InGaAs membrane waveguides in the InGaAs-InP platform at such a long wavelength with gas sensing results. Also, this result emphasizes the advantage of SWWs to reduce the total transmission loss and the size of the fully integrated device's footprint by virtue of its low propagation loss and TM mode compatibility in comparison to HPCWs. This study enables the possibility of monolithic integration of quantum cascade devices with TM polarized characteristics and passive waveguide sensing devices for on-chip mid-IR absorption spectroscopy.

Recent Trends and Advances of Silicon-Based Integrated Microwave Photonics

Multitude applications of photonic devices and technologies for the generation and manipulation of arbitrary and random microwave waveforms, at unprecedented processing speeds, have been proposed in the literature over the past three decades. This class of photonic applications for microwave engineering is known as microwave photonics (MWP). The vast capabilities of MWP have allowed the realization of key functionalities which are either highly complex or simply not possible in the microwave domain alone. Recently, this growing field has adopted the integrated photonics technologies to develop microwave photonic systems with enhanced robustness as well as with a significant reduction of size, cost, weight, and power consumption. In particular, silicon photonics technology is of great interest for this aim as it offers outstanding possibilities for integration of highly-complex active and passive photonic devices, permitting monolithic integration of MWP with high-speed silicon electronics. In this article, we present a review of recent work on MWP functions developed on the silicon platform. We particularly focus on newly reported designs for signal modulation, arbitrary waveform generation, filtering, true-time delay, phase shifting, beam steering, and frequency measurement.

On-chip multi-stage optical delay based on cascaded Brillouin light storage

Storing and delaying optical signals plays a crucial role in data centers, phased array antennas, communication, and future computing architectures. Here, we show a delay scheme based on cascaded Brillouin light storage that achieves multi-stage delay at arbitrary positions within a photonic integrated circuit. Importantly these multiple resonant transfers between the optical and acoustic domain are controlled solely via external optical control pulses, allowing cascading of the delay without the need of aligning multiple structural resonances along the optical circuit.

Subwavelength integrated photonics

In the late nineteenth century, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated that the electromagnetic properties of materials are intimately related to their structure at the subwavelength scale by using wire grids with centimetre spacing to manipulate metre-long radio waves. More recently, the availability of nanometre-scale fabrication techniques has inspired scientists to investigate subwavelength-structured metamaterials with engineered optical properties at much shorter wavelengths, in the infrared and visible regions of the spectrum. Here we review how optical metamaterials are expected to enhance the performance of the next generation of integrated photonic devices, and explore some of the challenges encountered in the transition from concept demonstration to viable technology.

Design of narrowband Bragg spectral filters in subwavelength grating metamaterial waveguides

Properties of reflection and transmission spectral filters based on Bragg gratings in subwavelength grating (SWG) metamaterial waveguides on silicon-on-insulator platform have been analyzed using proprietary 2D and 3D simulation tools based on Fourier modal method and the coupled-mode theory. We also demonstrate that the coupled Bloch mode theory can be advantageously applied to design of Bragg gratings in SWG waveguides. By combining different techniques, including judiciously positioning silicon loading segments within the evanescent field of the SWG waveguide and making use of its dispersion properties, it is possible to attain sub-nanometer spectral bandwidths for both reflection and transmission filters in the wavelength range of 1550 nm while keeping minimum structural features of the filters as large as 100 nm. Numerical simulations have also shown that a few nanometer jitter in the size and position of Si segments is well tolerated in our filter designs.

Dispersion control of silicon nanophotonic waveguides using sub-wavelength grating metamaterials in near- and mid-IR wavelengths

Controlling the group velocity dispersion of silicon nanophotonic waveguides has been recognized as a key ingredient to enhance the development of various on-chip optical applications. However, the strong wavelength dependence of the dispersion in waveguides implemented on the high index contrast silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform substantially hinders their wideband operation, which in turn, limits their deployment. In this work, we exploit the potential of non-resonant sub-wavelength grating (SWG) nanostructures to perform a flexible and wideband control of dispersion in SOI waveguides. In particular, we demonstrated that the overall dispersion of the SWG-engineered metamaterial waveguides can be tailored across the transparency window of the SOI platform, keeping easy-to-handle single-etch step manufacturing. The SWG silicon waveguides overcladded by silicon nitride exhibit significant reduction of wavelength dependence of dispersion, yet providing intriguing and customizable synthesis of various attractive dispersion profiles. These include large normal up to low anomalous operation regimes, both of which could make a great promise for plethora of emerging applications in silicon photonics.

Subwavelength grating slot (SWGS) waveguide on silicon platform

We present a subwavelength grating slot (SWGS) waveguide on silicon platform. The SWGS waveguide is characterized by the merging of a slot structure and a subwavelength grating (SWG) structure. The mode guiding mechanism (SWG slot mode) relies on the combination of surface enhanced supermode (slot mode) in a slot waveguide and Bloch mode (SWG mode) in an SWG waveguide. The mode properties and nonlinearities of silicon-based strip waveguide, slot waveguide, SWG waveguide and SWGS waveguide are studied in detail for comparison. It is found that the designed SWGS waveguide with SiO₂/air cladding features greatly reduced nonlinearity due to the delocalized light from the silicon region. We also optimize the SWGS waveguide with varied geometries (silicon width, slot width, period, duty cycle) using the mode confinement factor and evaluation factor. An ultralow nonlinearity of 3.20 /W/m is obtained. Moreover, we design two types of compatible strip-to-SWGS mode converters, showing favorable performance with broadband high conversion efficiency. The obtained results indicate that the proposed SWGS waveguide with greatly reduced nonlinearity may find potential applications in chip-scale data transmission for optical interconnects. The SWGS waveguide with air cladding or low-refractive-index nonlinear material cladding may also see possible applications in optical sensing and nonlinear optical signal processing.

Disorder effects in subwavelength grating metamaterial waveguides

Subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguides are integrated photonic structures with a pitch substantially smaller than wavelength for which they are designed, so that diffraction effects are suppressed. SWG operates as an artificial metamaterial with an equivalent refractive index which depends on the geometry of the structure and the polarization of the propagating wave. SWG waveguides have been advantageously used in silicon photonics, resulting in significant performance improvements for many practical devices, including highly efficient fiber-chip couplers, waveguide crossings, broadband multimode interference (MMI) couplers, evanescent field sensors and polarization beam splitters, to name a few. Here we present a theoretical and experimental study of the influence of disorder effects in SWG waveguides. We demonstrate via electromagnetic simulations and experimental measurements that even a comparatively small jitter (~5 nm) in the position and size of the SWG segments may cause a dramatic reduction in the transmittance for wide (multimode) SWG waveguides, while for narrow (single mode) waveguides this effect is negligible. Our study shows that the impact of the jitter on SWG waveguide performance is directly related to the modal confinement.

Dispersion-engineered multicore fibers for distributed radiofrequency signal processing

We report a trench-assisted heterogeneous multicore fiber optimized in terms of higher-order dispersion and crosstalk for radiofrequency true time delay operation. The analysis of the influence of the core refractive index profile on the dispersion slope and effective index reveals a tradeoff between the behavior of the crosstalk against fiber curvatures and the linearity of the propagation group delay. We investigate the optimization of the multicore fiber in the framework of this tradeoff and present a design that features a group delay relative error below 5% for an optical wavelength range up to 100 nm and a crosstalk level below -80 dB for bending radii larger than 103 mm. The performance of the true time delay line is validated in the context of microwave signal filtering and optical beamforming for phased array antennas. This work opens the way towards the development of compact fiber-integrated solutions that enable the implementation of a variety of distributed signal processing functionalities that will be key in future fiber-wireless communications networks and systems.