Systems and methods for efficient optical frequency conversion with integrated optical systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10599007-B2
Application number	US-201916514620-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2019
Priority date	Jul 17, 2018
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present technology provide a novel architecture for optical frequency conversion in a waveguide which can be applied to any suitable nonlinear waveguide material and any wavelength. In accordance with some embodiments, phase-matched bends can be used to increase the nonlinear interaction length. For example, the device can begin with a straight waveguide section with a width designed for phase-matching. When the straight waveguide section approaches the end of the chip, a bending waveguide section allows the waveguide to meander back in the opposite direction. Various embodiments of the bend can have a wider or narrower width to eliminate phase-matching for second harmonic generation (SHG) and instead provide a 2π phase-shift between the pump and signal light. Therefore, at the end of the bend, the pump and signal light are in-phase and a phase-matched width will continue the SHG process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A waveguide comprising:
a first section to receive pump light that generates a signal light throughout the waveguide,
wherein within the first section the pump light and the signal light are phase matched; and

a second section connected to the first section,
wherein the second section is formed with a phase matched bend; and
wherein the second section has a phase mismatch with the first section such that the phase output of the second section matches the phase of the input to the second section.

2. The waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the phase matched bend has a π/2 angle to create either a π or 2π phase-shift between the pump and the signal light depending on a sign-change of a second order nonlinear susceptibility at the π/2 angle.

3. The waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the phase matched bend has a π angle to create either a π or 2π phase-shift between the pump and the signal light.

4. The waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the second section includes non-phase-matched waveguide geometry to introduce a desired phase shift.

5. The waveguide of claim 4 , wherein the non-phase-matched waveguide geometry includes modal dispersion for a specific bending radius, through a different waveguide width, or both.

6. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a waveguide core and cladding layers that include a uniform or composite material.

7. The waveguide of claim 6 , wherein the cladding layers include sub-layers of quantum wells that form an effective medium.

8. The waveguide of claim 6 , wherein the waveguide core and the cladding layers are formed by deposition techniques.

9. The waveguide of claim 8 , wherein the deposition techniques include epitaxial growth or chemical-vapor deposition, or by wafer bonding techniques.

10. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising nonlinear materials that are uniform along the length of the waveguide to support modal or birefringent phase matching or periodically poled to support quasi phase-matching.

11. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a waveguide core of gallium arsenide and a cladding layer of silicon dioxide.

12. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a waveguide core with a higher refractive index than a waveguide cladding.

13. The waveguide of claim 12 , wherein the waveguide core comprises gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, silicon nitride, aluminum gallium arsenide, gallium phosphide, silicon, tantalum pentoxide, lithium niobate, or aluminum nitride.

14. The waveguide of claim 12 , wherein the waveguide cladding comprises silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, tantalum pentoxide, aluminum nitride, calcium fluoride, aluminum gallium arsenide, silicon oxynitride, or aluminum oxide.

15. The waveguide of claim 12 , further comprising an intermediate layer formed between the waveguide core and the waveguide cladding.

16. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a waveguide core layer formed by direct bonding or adhesive bonding from a secondary substrate material to a primary substrate material.

17. The waveguide of claim 16 , wherein the waveguide core layer is formed using selective die bonding, full wafer-scale bonding, or selective area bonding.

18. The waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a cladding surrounding the waveguide, wherein the cladding includes a gaseous medium or vacuum, and wherein the waveguide is suspended via mechanical tethers that are the same material or a different material as a core.

19. The waveguide of claim 1 , applied to phase-sensitive nonlinear optical processes for sum-frequency generation and difference-frequency generation.

20. An optical waveguide comprising:
a first section to receive pump light that generates a signal and idler light throughout the waveguide,
wherein within the first section the pump light and signal and the idler light are phase matched; and

a bended section connected to the first section,
wherein the bended section has a phase mismatch with the first section such that the phase output of the bended section matches the phase of the input to the bended section.

21. An optical waveguide comprising:
a first section to receive pump light that generates a signal light throughout the waveguide,
wherein within the first section the pump light and the signal light are phase matched; and

one or more additional sections interconnected and at least one of the one or more additional sections having phase matched bends to create either a desired phase-shift between the pump light and the signal light via a phase mismatch between the one or more additional sections having bends.

Assignees

• Univ Colorado Regents
• Government Of The Us Secretary Of Commerce National Institute Of Standards And Technology

Inventors

• Stanton Eric
• Chiles Jeffrey

Classifications

• G02F1/383

  of the optical fibre type · CPC title

• G02F1/3558

  Poled materials, e.g. with periodic poling; Fabrication of domain inverted structures, e.g. for quasi-phase-matching [QPM] · CPC title

• G02B2006/12178

  Epitaxial growth · CPC title

• G02F1/365 Primary

  in an optical waveguide structure (G02F1/377, {G02F1/395} take precedence) · CPC title

• G02B2006/12078

  Gallium arsenide or alloys (GaAs, GaAlAs, GaAsP, GaInAs) · CPC title