Letter abstract
Nature Photonics 3, 206 - 210 (2009)
Published online: 22 March 2009 | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2009.28
Subject Categories: Lasers, LEDs and light sources | Fundamental optical physics | Nonlinear optics
Green light emission in silicon through slow-light enhanced third-harmonic generation in photonic-crystal waveguides
B. Corcoran1, C. Monat1, C. Grillet1, D. J. Moss1, B. J. Eggleton1, T. P. White2, L. O'Faolain2 & T. F. Krauss2
Abstract
Slow light has attracted significant interest recently as a potential solution for optical delay lines and time-domain optical signal processing1, 2. Perhaps even more significant is the possibility of dramatically enhancing nonlinear optical effects3, 4 due to the spatial compression of optical energy5, 6, 7. Two-dimensional silicon photonic-crystal waveguides have proven to be a powerful platform for realizing slow light, being compatible with on-chip integration and offering wide-bandwidth and dispersion-free propagation2. Here, we report the slow-light enhancement of a nonlinear optical process in a two-dimensional silicon photonic-crystal waveguide. We observe visible third-harmonic-generation at a wavelength of 520 nm with only a few watts of peak power, and demonstrate strong third-harmonic-generation enhancement due to the reduced group velocity of the near-infrared pump signal. This demonstrates yet another unexpected nonlinear function realized in a CMOS-compatible silicon waveguide.
- CUDOS, Institute for Photonic Optical Sciences (IPOS), School of Physics, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, UK
Correspondence to: C. Monat1 e-mail: monat@physics.usyd.edu.au
