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arXiv · 2502.07997

High Contrast Nulling in Photonic Meshes Through Architectural Redundancy

Carson Valdez·Zhanghao Sun·Anne R. Kroo·David A. B. Miller·Olav Solgaard
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Abstract

We demonstrate a silicon photonic architecture comprised of Double Mach-Zehnder Interferometers (DMZIs) designed for high-contrast photonic applications. This configuration significantly enhances the achievable extinction ratio of photonic integrated circuits (PICs), reaching levels exceeding 80 dB. By leveraging the tunable properties of DMZIs and implementing a systematic configuration algorithm, the proposed mesh effectively compensates for fabrication imperfections and mitigates non-idealities such as back reflections. Experimental validation on a silicon-on-insulator platform demonstrates the potential of this approach for applications requiring high contrast nulling such as astronomical sensing.

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Carson Valdez, Zhanghao Sun, Anne R. Kroo, David A. B. Miller, Olav Solgaard. 2025-02-11. High Contrast Nulling in Photonic Meshes Through Architectural Redundancy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.07997

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