In this chapter, we present a new scheme for Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) structure based on only one 4 × 4 multimode interference (MMI) coupler. We design the new MZI cell on the silicon on insulator (SOI) platform. The MZI based on directional coupler and 2 × 2 MMI coupler is also investigated in detail. The new MZI cell is a basic building block for photonic applications such as optical quantum gate, optical computing and reconfigurable processors. The numerical simulations show that our approach has advantages of compact size, ease of fabrication with the current complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry.
Part of the book: Applications of Silicon Photonics in Sensors and Waveguides
Optical power couplers with arbitrary power splitting ratios are important components for many applications such as Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based structures, filters, switches, dispersion compensations, optical interconnects, and microring resonators. In this chapter, we present a new approach to achieve a very high compact coupler with arbitrary power splitting ratios on silicon on insulator (SOI) waveguides. The proposed device requires only one 4×4 multimode interference (MMI) coupler. We use a passive wide SOI waveguide to achieve the phase shifter. The footprint of the whole device is only about 6×150 μm2. A large fabrication tolerance of ±50 nm can be achieved. The modified effective index method, beam propagation method, finite difference method, and finite difference-time difference method are used to optimally design the whole device.
Part of the book: Emerging Waveguide Technology
We present a new approach for designing a compact microring resonator structure based on only one multimode waveguide, which can provide a very high free spectral range (FSR) and capability of controlling the critical coupling. The silicon on insulator (SOI) waveguide and graphene-silicon waveguide (GSW) are used for the proposed structure. By changing the applied voltage on the graphene sheet, we can achieve a full control of the critical coupling. Some important properties of the proposed microring resonator such as free spectral range and quality factor are analyzed. We show that our structure can provide all characteristics of a single microring resonator with universal applications such as optical switching, modulating, filtering and signal processing, etc.
Part of the book: Electromagnetic Propagation and Waveguides in Photonics and Microwave Engineering