Design and fabrication of liquid crystal microring resonator-based tunable optical add-drop filters (Conference Presentation)

Florenta A. Costache; Haldor Hartwig; Anja Martin; Martin Blasl; Andreas Rieck; Meysam Namdari

doi:10.1117/12.2507817

4 March 2019 Design and fabrication of liquid crystal microring resonator-based tunable optical add-drop filters (Conference Presentation)

Florenta A. Costache, Haldor Hartwig, Anja Martin, Martin Blasl, Andreas Rieck, Meysam Namdari

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10921, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXIII; 109210G (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2507817
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2019, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

In fiber optic communication systems, tunable optical add-drop filters are needed for wavelength selection and wavelength channel (de)multiplexing. Ideally filters should possess wide dynamic tuning range, narrow bandwidth and high sidelobe-suppression capabilities. In this contribution, we show that such filters can be obtained with microring resonators incorporating liquid crystals as core materials. Special thermotropic liquid crystal blends were developed such that, in their isotropic phase, to be able to provide large Kerr constants, low loss from visible to infrared and sub-microsecond response time. These blends were used in the design of Vernier type filters with 2 to 4 serially coupled ring resonators. The filters were designed by means of FEM simulations, to operate in C-band. Parameters such as the number of rings, ring geometry and light coupling geometry were optimized to obtain large free spectral range and wide tuning range, narrow bandwidth, high sidelobe-suppression and low insertion loss. Moreover, the influence of fabrication tolerances on the device optical loss was considered in the design. The designed filters were fabricated on silicon wafers by micromachining processes. In particular, a special wafer assembly process was developed to ensure improved wafer bonding and low insertion loss. Experimental results revealed loss optimized tunable wavelength reconfigurable filters with add / drop functions of large free spectral range (FSR) of about 50 nm, wide dynamic tuning range of about 1 FSR and fast (sub-microsecond) tuning capabilities. Additionally, we show that these devices can be useful for other WDM applications, e.g., switching in C-band or visible range.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Florenta A. Costache, Haldor Hartwig, Anja Martin, Martin Blasl, Andreas Rieck, and Meysam Namdari "Design and fabrication of liquid crystal microring resonator-based tunable optical add-drop filters (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10921, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXIII, 109210G (4 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2507817

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTATION

WATCH
PRESENTATION SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Liquid crystals

Optical filters

Tunable filters

Microrings

Resonators

Semiconducting wafers

Visible radiation

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years