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arXiv · 0911.0949

Silicon Nanophotonic Waveguides for the Mid-Infrared

Tom Baehr-Jones·Alexander Spott·Rob Ilic·Andrew Spott·Boyan Penkov·William Asher·Michael Hochberg
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Abstract

It has recently been shown that silicon nanophotonic waveguides can be used to construct all of the components of a photonic data transmission system on a single chip. These components can be integrated together with CMOS electronics to create complex electronic-photonic integrated circuits. It has also emerged that the high field confinement of silicon nanoscale guides enables exciting new applications, from chipscale nonlinear optics to biosensors and light-force activated devices. To date, most of the experiments in silicon waveguides have been at wavelengths in the near-infrared, ranging from 1.1-2 microns. Here we show that single-mode silicon nano-waveguides can be used at mid-infrared wavelengths, in particular at 4.5 microns, or 2222.2 1/cm. This idea has appeared in theoretical literature, but experimental realization has been elusive. This result represents the first practical integrated waveguide system for the mid-infrared in silicon, and enables a range of new applications.

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Tom Baehr-Jones, Alexander Spott, Rob Ilic, Andrew Spott, Boyan Penkov, William Asher, Michael Hochberg. 2009-11-04. Silicon Nanophotonic Waveguides for the Mid-Infrared. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.18.012127

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