In a project with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), we have developed prototypes of 1.55 μm frequencystabilized lasers for space applications. These lasers can be used as metrology sources for internal calibration of spectrometers such as the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS). Our prototypes include a 1552 nm DFB laser frequency-locked to H13CN using external phase modulation. The prototypes feature high quality characteristics such as CW output power of 8 mW and a narrow linewidth of 1.5 MHz. The frequency of the laser is known to a few ppm. The frequency stability levels at 10-10 between 30 and 10 000 s. The relative intensity noise (RIN) falls from -100 to -140 dBc/Hz between 1 Hz and 10 kHz, and levels at -140 dBc/Hz between 10 kHz and 1 MHz. Further improvement to reduce the linewidth to a few kHz can be provided using an all-fiber interferometer and correction of the laser injection current accordingly.
One of the biggest challenges of silicon photonics is the efficient coupling of light between the sub-micron SiP waveguides and a standard optical fiber (SMF-28). We recently proposed a novel approach based on a spot-size converter (SSC) that fulfills this need. The SSC integrates a tapered silicon waveguide and a superimposed structure made of a plurality of rods of high index material, disposed in an array-like configuration and embedded in a cladding of lower index material. This superimposed structure defines a waveguide designed to provide an efficient adiabatic transfer, through evanescent coupling, to a 220 nm thick Si waveguide tapered down to a narrow tip on one side, while providing a large mode overlap to the optical fiber on the other side. An initial demonstration was made using a SSC fabricated with post-processing steps. Great coupling to a SMF-28 fiber with a loss of 0.6 dB was obtained for TEpolarized light at 1550 nm with minimum wavelength dependence. In this paper, SSCs designed for operation at 1310 and 1550 nm for TE/TM polarizations and entirely fabricated in a CMOS fab are presented.
We present a compact four-laser source based on low-noise, high-bandwidth Pound-Drever-Hall method and optical phase-locked loops for sensing narrow spectral features. Four semiconductor external cavity lasers in butterfly packages are mounted on a shared electronics control board and all other optical functions are integrated on a single silicon photonics chip. This high performance source is compact, automated, robust, operates over a wide temperature range and remains locked for days. A laser to resonance frequency noise of 0.25 Hz/rt-Hz is demonstrated.
TeraXion started silicon photonics activities aiming at developing building blocks for new products and customized
solutions. Passive and active devices have been developed including MMI couplers, power splitters, Bragg grating
filters, high responsivity photodetectors, high speed modulators and variable optical attenuators. Packaging solutions
including fiber attachment and hybrid integration using flip-chip were also developed. More specifically, a compact
packaged integrated coherent receiver has been realized. Good performances were obtained as demonstrated by our
system tests results showing transmission up to 4800 km with BER below hard FEC threshold. The package size is small
but still limited by the electrical interface. Migrating to more compact RF interface would allow realizing the full benefit
of this technology.
We review the improved performances of a narrow linewidth laser using negative electrical feedback obtained through
advances on narrowband FBG filters. Noteworthy, the tolerance of the laser to vibrations is significantly improved. As
an extension of this work, these narrow filters are proposed for filtering optical signals in RF photonics systems.
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