Electrically controlled silicon-based photonic crystal chromatic dispersion compensator with ultralow power consumption

Abstract

We show full three-dimensional electrical and optical simulation of a tunable silicon-based photonic crystal chromatic dispersion compensator with high power efficiency and ultralow power consumption (114 nW), operating at a speed of 40.5 MHz. The device exploits a structure where the optical field maximum is not in a photonic crystal waveguide, but rather in a hybrid Si 3N4/Si/SiO2 structure that will allow greater ease of fiber coupling due to larger mode size and reduced loss. The chromatic dispersion compensation is broadband and produces constant second order chromatic dispersion over an optical communication band such as C -band. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.