Ultra-low-loss optical delay line on a silicon chip

Hansuek Lee, Tong Chen, Jiang Li, Oskar Painter and Kerry J. Vahala ()
Additional contact information
Hansuek Lee: T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
Tong Chen: T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
Jiang Li: T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
Oskar Painter: T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
Kerry J. Vahala: T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Light propagation through an optical fibre causes a long, non-resonant (true) time delay used in numerous applications. In contrast to how it is deployed in optical communication systems, fibre is coiled in these applications to reduce footprint. This is a configuration better suited for a chip-based waveguide that would improve shock resistance, and afford the possibility of integration for system-on-a-chip functionality. However, integrated waveguide attenuation rates lag far behind the corresponding rates of optical fibre, featuring attenuation many orders larger. Here we demonstrate a monolithic waveguide as long as 27 m (39 m optical path length), and featuring broadband loss rate values of (0.08±0.01) dB m−1 measured over 7 m by optical backscatter. Resonator measurements show a further reduction of loss to 0.037 dB m−1, close to that of optical fibres when first considered a viable technology. Scaling this waveguide to integrated spans exceeding 250 m and attenuation rates below 0.01 dB m−1 is discussed.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1876 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:3:y:2012:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1876

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1876

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().