Phase-controlled super-modes in a `lossy' tri-waveguide coupled micro-ring resonator system

Abstract

In coupled micro-ring resonator (MRR) systems, the coupling process plays a critical role in determining the optical response, yet models of these structures typically assume this process to be either lossless, or dissipative with either purely real or purely imaginary coupling rate, respectively. Dissipative coupling is contingent on having appropriately phase engineered structures with intricate coupling geometries, but systems exhibiting `lossy coupling', i.e., characterized by complex-valued coupling rates, have received comparatively little attention. In this work, we investigate the effect of such `lossy' coupling, by modelling the optical response of a tri-waveguide coupled MRR system, using Temporal Coupled-Mode Theory (TCMT). The `lossy' coupling occurs via a common bus waveguide, positioned between a pair of MRRs, leading to the emergence of a pair of intrinsic resonances, whose frequency and linewidth may be tailored by controlling the respective coupling rates from either MRR. We develop these ideas, and by connecting the input (driving) waveguides, using a 3dB y-splitter, demonstrate a novel, coherently driven, lossy-coupled MRR, which exhibits either an absorptive or transparent resonance peak on demand by phase-controlled super-modes.

under consideration by Optics Express