Premium
Silicon Photonics Rectangular Universal Interferometer
Author(s) -
Perez Daniel,
Gasulla Ivana,
Fraile Francisco Javier,
Crudgington Lee,
Thomson David J.,
Khokhar Ali Z.,
Li Ke,
Cao Wei,
Mashanovich Goran Z.,
Capmany Jose
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.201700219
Subject(s) - interferometry , astronomical interferometer , waveguide , photonics , silicon photonics , optics , field programmable gate array , physics , computer science , computer hardware
Universal multiport photonic interferometers that can implement any arbitrary unitary transformation between input and output optical modes are essential to support advanced optical functions. Integrated versions of these components can be implemented by means of either a fixed triangular or a fixed rectangular arrangement of the same components. We propose the implementation of a fixed rectangular universal interferometer using a reconfigurable hexagonal waveguide mesh circuit. A suitable adaptation synthesis algorithm tailored to this mesh configuration is provided and the experimental demonstration of a rectangular multiport interferometer by means of a fabricated silicon photonics chip is reported. The 7‐hexagonal cell chip can implement 2 × 2, 3 × 3 and 4 × 4 arbitrary unitary transformations. The proposed hexagonal waveguide mesh operates in a similar way as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in electronics. We believe that this work represents an important step‐forward towards fully programmable and integrable multiport interferometers.