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Bridging the mid-infrared-to-telecom gap with silicon nanophotonic spectral translation

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 667–671 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Extending beyond traditional telecom-band applications to optical interconnects1, the silicon nanophotonic integrated circuit platform also has notable advantages for use in high-performance mid-infrared optical systems operating in the 2–8 µm spectral range2,3. Such systems could find applications in industrial and environmental monitoring4, threat detection5, medical diagnostics6 and free-space communication7. Nevertheless, the advancement of chip-scale systems is impeded by the narrow-bandgap semiconductors traditionally used to detect mid-infrared photons. The cryogenic or multistage thermo-electric cooling required to suppress dark-current noise8, which is exponentially dependent on Eg/kT, can restrict the development of compact, low-power integrated mid-infrared systems. However, if the mid-infrared signals were spectrally translated to shorter wavelengths, wide-bandgap photodetectors could be used to eliminate prohibitive cooling requirements. Furthermore, such detectors typically have larger detectivity and bandwidth than their mid-infrared counterparts8. Here, we use efficient four-wave mixing in silicon nanophotonic wires9,10,11,12 to facilitate spectral translation of a signal at 2,440 nm to the telecom band at 1,620 nm, across a span of 62 THz. Furthermore, a simultaneous parametric translation gain of 19 dB can significantly boost sensitivity to weak mid-infrared signals.

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Figure 1: Structural design and transmission characteristics of the silicon nanophotonic wire spectral translation device.
Figure 2: Wavelength-resolved on-chip spectral translation efficiency and parametric signal gain.
Figure 3: Phase-matched signal and idler wavelengths linked by the silicon nanophotonic spectral translation process.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the staff at imec (Leuven, Belgium) where the silicon nanophotonic waveguide devices were fabricated. The authors also thank Y.A. Vlasov (IBM Research) for many helpful and motivating discussions. B.K. acknowledges the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) for a doctoral fellowship. This work was partially funded under the Methusalem ‘Smart Photonic Chips’ FP7-ERC-INSPECTRA and FP7-ERC-MIRACLE programmes.

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Author notes

  1. Xiaoping Liu

    Present address: Present address: OFS Labs, 19 Schoolhouse Road, Somerset, New Jersey 08873, USA,

  2. Xiaoping Liu and Bart Kuyken: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, 1300 SW Mudd Building, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, 10027, USA

    Xiaoping Liu & Richard M. Osgood Jr

  2. Department of Information Technology, Photonics Research Group, Ghent University–Imec, Ghent, B-9000, Belgium

    Bart Kuyken, Gunther Roelkens & Roel Baets

  3. IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, 10598, New York, USA

    William M. J. Green

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  1. Xiaoping Liu
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Contributions

X.L. and B.K. performed the numerical dispersion and phase-matching design calculations. B.K., G.R. and R.B. supervised the waveguide device fabrication process. X.L. and B.K. performed the wavelength translation experiments with guidance and supervision from W.M.J.G. All authors contributed to data analysis and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to William M. J. Green.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Liu, X., Kuyken, B., Roelkens, G. et al. Bridging the mid-infrared-to-telecom gap with silicon nanophotonic spectral translation. Nature Photon 6, 667–671 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.221

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