Nonlinear silicon photonics from the near to mid infrared

This dissertation presents experimental work investigating silicon-on-insulator (SOI) photonic waveguides for parametric nonlinear optic devices. An introduction is presented in Chapter 1, including background and motivation for exploring SOI as a platform for integrated photonics, as well as an overview of integrated nonlinear optic devices. Chapter 2 discusses on-chip slow light structures based on coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROW), potentially useful for enhancing nonlinearities for efficient chip-scale nonlinear optics. Although slowing light is limited by fabrication tolerance-induced disorder, a fundamental phenomenon is observed: the Anderson localization of optical waves.;Chapter 3 of the dissertation discusses four-wave mixing in SOI waveguides. SOI waveguide fabrication is described in detail, including achieving low fiber-to-chip coupling loss and waveguide propagation loss. Two approaches for dispersion engineering are presented: with the design of waveguide dimensions and with a thin-film cladding. Parametric wavelength conversion by degenerate (single-pump) FWM in these dispersion-engineered waveguides is demonstrated and discussed.;Chapter 4 concerns FWM with two pumps, an approach that promises functionalities not possible with a single pump such as multiple sideband generation with self-seeded higher-order pumps. In addition to demonstrating the generation of up to ten sidebands with dual pumps and subsequent self-seeded higher order pumps, we characterize trade-offs in maximum conversion efficiency due to nondegenerate two-photon absorption (TPA).;The work presented in Chapter 5 takes a novel approach to SOI parametric devices by exploring a new spectral range, toward the mid-infrared (mid-IR), near 2 mum and beyond. We measure FWM in silicon waveguides with a pump near 2 mum, which itself is generated by the parametric conversion of a 1300 nm seed by a 1589 nm pump in a highly-nonlinear fiber (HNLF). Fundamentally, our results show promising nonlinear properties of silicon waveguides near 2 mum, as the generation of a record-long wavelength from a first-order parametric conversion in a waveguide of 2388 nm is achieved. This result also demonstrates promise for a new class of mid-IR light sources constructed from sources and components that are telecom-compatible, and hence widely available.