Open AccessNon-degenerate two-photon absorption in silicon waveguides: analytical and experimental study
Author(s) -
Yanbing Zhang,
Chad Husko,
Simon Lefrançois,
Isabella H. Rey,
Thomas F. Krauss,
Jochen Schröder,
Benjamin J. Eggleton
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.23.017101
Subject(s) - two photon absorption , optics , degenerate energy levels , absorption (acoustics) , waveguide , silicon , nonlinear optics , free carrier absorption , materials science , silicon photonics , photonics , photon , photonic crystal , optoelectronics , physics , laser , quantum mechanics
We theoretically and experimentally investigate the nonlinear evolution of two optical pulses in a silicon waveguide. We provide an analytic solution for the weak probe wave undergoing non-degenerate two-photon absorption (TPA) from the strong pump. At larger pump intensities, we employ a numerical solution to study the interplay between TPA and photo-generated free carriers. We develop a simple and powerful approach to extract and separate out the distinct loss contributions of TPA and free-carrier absorption from readily available experimental data. Our analysis accounts accurately for experimental results in silicon photonic crystal waveguides.