Design and modeling of highly tunable filters based on the linear electro-optic effect in strained silicon waveguides

Farzaneh Mehrfar; Hadi Soofi; Ali Pourziad

doi:10.1117/1.OE.56.8.086106

21 August 2017 Design and modeling of highly tunable filters based on the linear electro-optic effect in strained silicon waveguides

Farzaneh Mehrfar, Hadi Soofi, Ali Pourziad

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 56, Issue 8, 086106 (August 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.8.086106

Abstract

Design and modeling of wavelength tunable filters based on the linear electro-optic (Pockels) effect in strained silicon waveguides is presented. The structure is based on the silicon grating-assisted contradirectional couplers. The basic idea is to utilize a silicon nitride (Si3N4) layer on top of the silicon waveguides to induce a relatively large Pockels effect in the waveguides by breaking the centrosymmetry of the Si crystal due to the surface strain. Wavelength tuning is obtained by applying DC voltages to the device contacts on top of the Si3N4 layer. Based on the presented structure, a wavelength tunable filter at the C-band communication window is designed and its characteristics were investigated by full-vectorial finite-element and finite-difference time-domain methods for electrostatic and optical responses. A 3.5-nm wavelength shift for an applied voltage of 1 V and a 7.5-nm shift for an applied voltage of 5 V are obtained with negligible loss. The presented device is superior to the previously reported structures in terms of tunability and loss.

Citation Download Citation

Farzaneh Mehrfar, Hadi Soofi, and Ali Pourziad "Design and modeling of highly tunable filters based on the linear electro-optic effect in strained silicon waveguides," Optical Engineering 56(8), 086106 (21 August 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.8.086106

Received: 28 February 2017; Accepted: 1 August 2017; Published: 21 August 2017

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