Author(s): Guan, H (Guan, Huan); Liu, Y (Liu, Yang); Li, ZZ (Li, Zezheng); Kuang, YX (Kuang, Yingxin); Huang, XR (Huang, Xingrui); Li, ZY (Li, Zhiyong)

Source: APPLIED OPTICS Volume: 59 Issue: 27 Pages: 8349-8354 DOI: 10.1364/AO.396472 Published: SEP 20 2020

Abstract: We propose and experimentally demonstrate a passive and compact interleaver on a silicon on insulator (SOI) platform using a ring-assisted asymmetrical Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration. The wavelength-insensitive couplers, i.e., multimode interference couplers and adiabatic 3-dB couplers, are introduced to eliminate the effect of an unequal splitting ratio and wavelength on crosstalk and the operating spectral range. In addition, there exists an inherent phase shift between the two couplers; the device can be fully passive and works well without additional thermal tuning. In the calculation, the influence of wavelength sensitivity of self-coupling coefficients and couplers on the performance of the interleaver is considered. The experiment shows that, by employing wavelength-insensitive couplers, the operating spectral range of the proposed interleavers was extended to be >140 nm for all sorts of channel spacing and channel count. The measured free spectral range is 4.6 nm, and the crosstalk is as low as -46.6 dB for the best case. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America

Accession Number: WOS:000571489300040

PubMed ID: 32976421

ISSN: 1559-128X

eISSN: 2155-3165

Full Text: https://www.osapublishing.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-59-27-8349