Silicon Photonics: silicon nitride versus silicon-on-insulator

Baets, Roel; Subramanian, Ananth; Clemmen, Stéphane; Kuyken, Bart; Bienstman, Peter; Thomas, Nicolas Le; Roelkens, Günther; Thourhout, Dries Van; Hélin, Philippe; Severi, S.

doi:10.1364/ofc.2016.th3j.1

Cited by 120 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This provides a valuable technique for determining how parameters like loaded Q and bus to ring coupling coefficient change from the cold cavity to the hot cavity state and can lead to improved operating designs. Due to the low loss of Si3N4 waveguides across an extremely broad range of wavelengths (405 nm -2350 nm) 15,28,29 this level of performance has the potential to translate to the visible and other wavebands, opening the potential for compact sub-Hz source to a wealth of applications. This paper is structured as follows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-hertz fundamental linewidth photonic integrated Brillouin laser

et al. 2018

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Photonic systems and technologies traditionally relegated to table-top experiments are poised to make the leap from the laboratory to real-world applications through integration, leading to a dramatic decrease in size, weight, power, and cost 1 . In particular, photonic integrated ultra-narrow linewidth lasers are a critical component for applications including coherent communications 2 , metrology 3-5 , microwave photonics 6 , spectroscopy 7 , and optical synthesizers 1 . Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) lasers, through their unique linewidth narrowing properties 8 , are an ideal candidate to create highly-coherent waveguide integrated sources. In particular, cascaded-order Brillouin lasers show promise for multi-line emission 14 , low-noise microwave generation 6 and other optical comb applications. To date, compact, very-low linewidth SBS lasers have been demonstrated using discrete, tapered-fiber coupled chip-scale silica 9,10 or CaF2 11 microresonators. Photonic integration of these lasers can dramatically improve their stability to environmental and mechanical disturbances, simplify their packaging, and lower cost through wafer-scale photonics foundry processes. While single-order silicon 12 and cascade-order chalcogenide 13 waveguide SBS lasers have been demonstrated, these lasers produce modest emission linewidths of 10-100 kHz and are not compatible with waferscale photonics foundry processes. Here, we report the first demonstration of a sub-Hz (~0.7 Hz) fundamental linewidth photonic-integrated Brillouin cascaded-order laser, representing a significant advancement in the state-of-the-art in integrated waveguide SBS lasers. This laser is comprised of a bus-ring resonator fabricated using an ultra-low loss (< 0.5 dB/m) Si3N4 waveguide platform. To achieve a sub-Hz linewidth, we leverage a high-Q, large mode volume, single polarization mode resonator that produces photon generated acoustic waves without phonon guiding. This approach greatly relaxes phase matching conditions between polarization modes and optical and acoustic modes. By using a theory for cascaded-order Brillouin laser dynamics 14 , we determine the fundamental emission linewidth of the first Stokes order by measuring the beat-note linewidth between and the relative powers of the first and third Stokes orders. Extension of these high performance lasers to the visible and near-IR wavebands is possible due to the low optical loss of silicon nitride waveguides from 405 nm to 2350 nm 15 , paving the way to photonic-integrated sub-Hz lasers for visible-light applications including atomic clocks and precision spectroscopy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-hertz fundamental linewidth photonic integrated Brillouin laser

et al. 2018

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“…In [24] a comparison of Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) and Silicon Nitride (SiN) platforms is provided. This paper provides a more detailed discussion on the aspects already published in [24].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This paper provides a more detailed discussion on the aspects already published in [24]. In section II, a description of the two silicon photonic platforms is provided.…”

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confidence: 99%

Expanding the Silicon Photonics Portfolio With Silicon Nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits

Rahim

Ryckeboer

Subramanian

et al. 2017

J. Lightwave Technol.

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267

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Abstract-The high index contrast silicon-on-insulator platform is the dominant CMOS 1 compatible platform for photonic integration. The successful use of silicon photonic chips in optical communication applications has now paved the way for new areas where photonic chips can be applied. It is already emerging as a competing technology for sensing and spectroscopic applications. This increasing range of applications for silicon photonics instigates an interest in exploring new materials, as silicon-oninsulator has some drawbacks for these emerging applications, e.g. silicon is not transparent in the visible wavelength range. Silicon nitride is an alternate material platform. It has moderately high index contrast, and like silicon-on-insulator, it uses CMOS processes to manufacture photonic integrated circuits. In this paper, the advantages and challenges associated with these two material platforms are discussed. The case of dispersive spectrometers, which are widely used in various silicon photonic applications, is presented for these two material platforms.

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“…However, because the index of refraction contrast between the silicon layer and the SiO 2 substrate is very high, the mode remains mainly confined inside the silicon layer, meaning that the effective Kerr effect is close to the one of the bulk material reported in Table I, i. e., 100 times larger than that of SiO 2 and 10 times that of SiN (for further comparison between SOI and SiN, see for instance Ref. 44). Concerning InP, it is also worth mentioning that other non-linear effects such as the two-photon absorption could become detrimental to the gyro performance even before the Kerr effect itself becomes a problem.…”

Section: Applications To Tactical and Medium Performance Gyroscopesmentioning

confidence: 88%

Analysis of the design of a passive resonant miniature optical gyroscope based on integrated optics technologies

et al. 2017

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We present a simple analysis of the design of a passive miniature resonant optical gyroscope. By combining the requirements on the angular random walk and the bias stability, we end up with simple expressions of the minimum diameter of the ring waveguide cavity and the maximum power that should be used to probe it. Using state-of-the-art performances of photonic integrated circuit and whispering gallery mode technologies in terms of propagation losses and mode size, we show that tactical grade gyroscope performances can be achieved with a diameter of a few cm provided the detrimental influence of Kerr effect is mitigated, using for instance an active control of the unbalance in the intensities. We further extend the analysis to medium performance gyroscope and give some hints on the efforts to be made to potentially demonstrate a miniature resonant optical gyroscope with this level of performance.

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Silicon Photonics: silicon nitride versus silicon-on-insulator

Abstract: Silicon photonics typically builds on a silicon-on-insulator based high-index-contrast waveguide system. Silicon nitride provides an alternative moderate-index-contrast system that is manufacturable in the same CMOS environment. This paper discusses the relative benefits of both platforms.

Cited by 120 publications

References 26 publications

Sub-hertz fundamental linewidth photonic integrated Brillouin laser

Sub-hertz fundamental linewidth photonic integrated Brillouin laser

Expanding the Silicon Photonics Portfolio With Silicon Nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits

Analysis of the design of a passive resonant miniature optical gyroscope based on integrated optics technologies

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