Compact Optical Switches and Modulators Based on Dispersion Engineered Photonic Crystals

Liam O'Faolain, Daryl M. Beggs, Thomas P. White, Tobias Kampfrath, Kobus Kuipers, Thomas F. Krauss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

92 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We use slow-light photonic crystals to enhance optical switching and modulation in silicon. By using dispersion-engineered designs, a switch as short as 5 mu m was achieved, in which we have demonstrated rerouting of optical pulses on a 3-ps time scale through the absorption of a femtosecond pulse. We additionally demonstrate a modulator with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) configuration with flat-band slow-light photonic crystal phase shifters that is designed to give a large group-index-bandwidth product. An extinction ratio in excess of 15 dB is obtained over the entire 11-nm bandwidth of the modulator.
Original languageUndefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)404-414
Number of pages11
JournalIEEE Photonics Journal
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2010

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