Octave-spanning supercontinuum generation in a CMOS-compatible thin Si3N4 waveguide coated with highly nonlinear TeO2 Journal Articles uri icon

  •  
  • Overview
  •  
  • Research
  •  
  • Identity
  •  
  • Additional Document Info
  •  
  • View All
  •  

abstract

  • Supercontinuum generation (SCG) is an important nonlinear optical process enabling broadband light sources for many applications, for which silicon nitride (Si3N4) has emerged as a leading on-chip platform. To achieve suitable group velocity dispersion and high confinement for broadband SCG the Si3N4 waveguide layer used is typically thick (>∼700 nm), which can lead to high stress and cracks unless specialized processing steps are used. Here, we report on efficient octave-spanning SCG in a thinner moderate-confinement 400-nm Si3N4 platform using a highly nonlinear tellurium oxide (TeO2) coating. An octave supercontinuum spanning from 0.89 to 2.11 µm is achieved at a low peak power of 258 W using a 100-fs laser centered at 1565 nm. Our numerical simulations agree well with the experimental results giving a nonlinear parameter of 2.5 ± 0.5 W−1m−1, an increase by a factor of 2.5, when coating the Si3N4 waveguide with a TeO2 film. This work demonstrates highly efficient SCG via effective dispersion engineering and an enhanced nonlinearity in CMOS-compatible hybrid TeO2–Si3N4 waveguides and a promising route to monolithically integrated nonlinear, linear, and active functionalities on a single silicon photonic chip.

authors

  • Mbonde, Hamidu M
  • Singh, Neetesh
  • Segat Frare, Bruno L
  • Sinobad, Milan
  • Ahmadi, Pooya Torab
  • Hashemi, Batoul
  • Bonneville, Dawson B
  • Mascher, Peter
  • Kärtner, Franz X
  • Bradley, Jonathan

publication date

  • May 15, 2024