A highly-compact optical amplifier for densely-integrated communications systems

用于密集集成通信系统的高度紧凑的光放大器

• 批准号: 555793-2020
• 负责人: Bradley, Jonathan
• 金额: $ 9.11万
• 依托单位: McMaster University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=706067
• 关键词: highly; compact; optical; amplifier; densely

We propose to develop a new very-small-form-factor (VSFF) optical amplifier on a chip. Current VSFF amplifiers are limited to semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), which use costly materials and are hampered by high noise and nonlinearities which induce signal crosstalk. The leading alternative technology, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) offer low noise and high gain for high performance in optical systems. However, the silica optical fiber used to build such amplifiers is on the order of meters long and cannot be bent too tightly when wrapped up, thereby imposing a limit on the overall size of the device. A potential alternative is the erbium-doped waveguide amplifier (EDWA), in which an erbium-doped waveguide is fabricated on a low-cost silicon substrate, allowing for large-scale production and orders of magnitude reduction in size because of the use of thin film materials with high refractive index and which allow for higher erbium dopant concentrations than silica. We have recently improved EDWAs using a novel platform based on hybrid erbium-doped tellurite glass and silicon nitride waveguides. Our platform removes past challenges with EDWAs which have prevented their commercialization, including reproducible fabrication methods using well-established silicon nitride technology, and high gain in a compact form factor enabled by the high refractive index doped tellurite glass. We have demonstrated optical gain of up to 5 dB using this platform, showing its viability. The remaining challenges to be addressed in this project include a) demonstrating higher optical gain of up to 20 dB in longer spiral waveguides; b) reducing the fiber-chip coupling loss to < 1 dB for optical pump and signal light to improve efficiency and noise performance; c) demonstrating a packaged component with optical pump and signal multiplexing on the same chip and input and output ports in a compact form factor. Such compact EDWAs will have wide-ranging applications in optical communications networks, data centers, high-performance computing, AI, space communications, and detection and ranging in self-driving vehicles.

我们建议在芯片上开发一种新的非常小的形式因子（VSFF）光放大器。当前的VSFF放大器仅限于半导体光放大器（SOA），这些放大器使用昂贵的材料，并受到诱导信号串扰的高噪声和非线性的阻碍。领先的替代技术，掺杂的纤维放大器（EDFAS）为光学系统中的高性能提供了低噪声和高增长。 但是，用于构建此类放大器的二氧化硅光纤长在米长的顺序上，并且在包裹时不能太紧，从而对设备的整体尺寸施加了限制。潜在的替代方法是掺杂的波导放大器（EDWA），其中在低成本的硅基板上制造了掺杂的波导，可以使大规模生产和尺寸降低尺寸的大小降低，因为与高脱位式浓度和更高的Erbium Dopations相比，使用薄膜材料使用薄膜材料。最近，我们使用基于掺杂的纤维型泰特里石玻璃和氮化硅波导的新型平台改进了EDWA。我们的平台消除了EDWAS的过去挑战，这些挑战阻止了其商业化，包括使用良好的氮化硅技术的可重复制造方法，以及由高折射率掺杂的Tellurite Glass启用的紧凑型外形的高收益。我们已经使用此平台证明了最多5 dB的光学增益，显示了它的生存能力。该项目中要解决的剩余挑战包括a）在更长的螺旋波导中显示高达20 dB的光学增益； b）将光纤芯片耦合损失减少到<1 dB的光泵和信号灯，以提高效率和噪声性能； c）在相同的芯片上演示带有光泵和信号多路复用的包装组件，并以紧凑的外形尺寸为单位。这种紧凑的EDWA将在光学通信网络，数据中心，高性能计算，AI，空间通信以及自动驾驶汽车中的检测以及范围内具有广泛的应用程序。