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Low-power continuous-wave nonlinear optics in doped silica glass integrated waveguide structures

Abstract

Photonic integrated circuits are a key component1 of future telecommunication networks, where demands for greater bandwidth, network flexibility, and low energy consumption and cost must all be met. The quest for all-optical components has naturally targeted materials with extremely large nonlinearity, including chalcogenide glasses2 and semiconductors, such as silicon3 and AlGaAs (ref. 4). However, issues such as immature fabrication technology for chalcogenide glass and high linear and nonlinear losses for semiconductors motivate the search for other materials. Here we present the first demonstration of nonlinear optics in integrated silica-based glass waveguides using continuous-wave light. We demonstrate four-wave mixing, with low (5 mW) continuous-wave pump power at λ = 1,550 nm, in high-index, doped silica glass ring resonators5. The low loss, design flexibility and manufacturability of our device are important attributes for low-cost, high-performance, nonlinear all-optical photonic integrated circuits.

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Figure 1: Device schematic and linear optical transmission spectra.
Figure 2: Experimental FWM results.
Figure 3: Idler output power and wavelength as a function of signal wavelength detuning from the ring resonance.
Figure 4: Output (idler) power versus input (pump and signal) powers.
Figure 5

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centres of Excellence program, the FQRNT (Le Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), NSERC Strategic Projects and the INRS. L.R. wishes to acknowledge a Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship (contract no. 040514). We are also thankful to Y. Park and T.-J. Ahn for useful discussions and R. Helsten for technical assistance. M.L. would like to thank the Ontario Centres of Excellence program for financial support.

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Correspondence to D. J. Moss.

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Ferrera, M., Razzari, L., Duchesne, D. et al. Low-power continuous-wave nonlinear optics in doped silica glass integrated waveguide structures. Nature Photon 2, 737–740 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.228

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