Open AccessErbium-doped hybrid waveguide amplifiers with net optical gain on a fully industrial 300 mm silicon nitride photonic platform
Author(s) -
John Rönn,
Jianhao Zhang,
Weiwei Zhang,
Zhengrui Tu,
Antti Matikainen,
Xavier Leroux,
Elena Durán-Valdeiglesias,
N. Vulliet,
F. Bœuf,
Carlos AlonsoRamos,
Harri Lipsanen,
Laurent Vivien,
Zhipei Sun,
Éric Cassan
Publication year - 2020
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.399257
Subject(s) - waveguide , materials science , silicon photonics , optoelectronics , erbium , photonics , optical amplifier , amplifier , silicon nitride , hybrid silicon laser , net gain , silicon , optics , cmos , doping , physics , laser
Recently, erbium-doped integrated waveguide devices have been extensively studied as a CMOS-compatible and stable solution for optical amplification and lasing on the silicon photonic platform. However, erbium-doped waveguide technology still remains relatively immature when it comes to the production of competitive building blocks for the silicon photonics industry. Therefore, further progress is critical in this field to answer the industry's demand for infrared active materials that are not only CMOS-compatible and efficient, but also inexpensive and scalable in terms of large volume production. In this work, we present a novel and simple fabrication method to form cost-effective erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers on silicon. With a single and straightforward active layer deposition, we convert passive silicon nitride strip waveguide channels on a fully industrial 300 mm photonic platform into active waveguide amplifiers. We show net optical gain over sub-cm long waveguide channels that also include grating couplers and mode transition tapers, ultimately demonstrating tremendous progress in developing cost-effective active building blocks on the silicon photonic platform.