Photonic devices in solitonic waveguides

Overview & Synopsis

Solutions for the realization of integrated photonic circuits with the advantages that spatial solitons offer, like their volumetric nature and the very low propagation losses are shown. Interconnections, sources and an optical router (as signal elaboration device) are investigated. Interconnections and sources are experimentally demonstrated in lithium niobate (LN) that provides long-lasting structures thanks to its very long dielectric relaxation time. The optical router working principle is realized in the photorefractive semiconductor InP:Fe because of its sensitivity in infrared radiation and its fast response time. To improve solitonic interconnections, an analysis based on propagation losses in function of light polarization and LN anisotropy is done. The key role played by an ordinary polarized beam on the induced refractive index variation is exploited. Integrated sources in solitonic waveguides for the emission of blue at 400nm and of an infrared beam at 1530nm are investigated. Sources emitting in blue are obtained via a second harmonic generation process; blue seed role in spatial soliton formation is demonstrated and its physical properties are investigated as well. The infrared one is achieved by doping LN with (active) erbium ions. Their effects on the photorefractive parameters are exploited and spatial solitons realized both pumping directly erbium absorption lines and the LN ones. Luminescence amplification is studied numerically. Optical routing in InP:Fe is achieved by making two coherent solitons interact by changing their relative phase. Separation increasing or fusion is analyzed in function of mutual distance, temperature and light intensity.