Electric Field-Induced Second Order Nonlinear Optical Effects in Silicon Waveguides

Abstract

The demand for nonlinear effects within a silicon platform to support photonic circuits requiring phase-only modulation, frequency doubling, and/or difference frequency generation, is becoming increasingly clear. However, the symmetry of the silicon crystal inhibits second order optical nonlinear susceptibility, ${\chi }^{(2)}$. Here, we show that the crystalline symmetry is broken when a DC field is present, inducing a ${\chi }^{(2)}$ in a silicon waveguide that is proportional to the large ${\chi }^{(3)}$ of silicon. First, Mach-Zehnder interferometers using the DC Kerr effect optical phase shifters in silicon ridge waveguides with p-i-n junctions are demonstrated with a $V_{\pi }L$ of $2.4Vcm$ in telecom bands $({\lambda }_{\omega }=1.58\mu m)$ without requiring to dope the silicon core. Second, the pump and second harmonic modes in silicon ridge waveguides are quasi-phase matched when the magnitude, spatial distribution of the DC field and ${\chi }^{(2)}$ are controlled with p-i-n junctions. Using these waveguides, second harmonic generation at multiple pump wavelengths are observed with a maximum efficiency of $P_{2\omega }/P_{\omega }^2$=12%/W at ${\lambda }_{\omega }=2.29\mu m$ in a 1mm long waveguide. This corresponds to a field-induced ${\chi }^{(2)}=41pm/V$, comparable to non-centrosymmetric media (LiNbO3, GaAs, GaN). The field-induced nonlinear silicon photonics will lead to a new class of CMOS compatible integrated devices spanning from near to mid infrared spectrum.

References in corpus (1)

• Characterizing the effects of free carriers in fully-etched, dielectric-clad silicon waveguides

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