We present recent results pertaining to pulse reshaping and optical signal processing using optical nonlinearities of silicon-based tapered photonic wires and photonic crystal waveguides. In particular, we show how nonlinearity and dispersion engineering of tapered photonic wires can be employed to generate optical similaritons and achieve more than 10× pulse compression. We also discuss the properties of four-wave mixing pulse amplification and frequency conversion efficiency in long-period Bragg waveguides and photonic crystal waveguides. Finally, the influence of linear and nonlinear optical effects on the transmission bit-error rate in uniform photonic wires and photonic crystal waveguides made of silicon is discussed.

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Spyros Lavdas, Jie You, Richard M. Osgood Jr., and Nicolae C. Panoiu, "Optical pulse engineering and processing using optical nonlinearities of nanostructured waveguides made of silicon," Proc. SPIE 9546, Active Photonic Materials VII, 95461Z (Presented at SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering: August 13, 2015; Published: 31 August 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190170.