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Photon-pair generation at telecommunication wavelengths using high-quality silicon microring resonators is an active area of research. Here, we report on significant progress towards the ultimate goal of an integrated silicon microchip for bright generation of photon pairs with multiple stages of tunable optical filtering on the same chip. A high pair generation brightness of 6.5×1010pairs/s/mW2/nm is achieved. The resonance of the high-Q silicon microring resonator can be monitored using a high dynamic range readout of a photocurrent in an all-silicon p-i-n diode fabricated across the waveguide cross-section, which is used to align the ring resonance to the passbands or stopbands of the filters.
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Prospects for photon-pair generation using silicon microring resonators with two photon absorption and free carrier absorption
Silicon microring resonators are being recently used for high-brightness and efficient photon-pair generation at telecommunication wavelengths. Here, based on detailed theoretical and numerical modeling, we study the impact on pair generation of increasing the optical pump power, which generally causes nonlinear impairments such as free-carrier and two-photon absorption in silicon micro-resonators. Contrary to expectation, the pair generation properties of such devices may seem to be preserved at increasing pump powers, although not better than at a moderate pump power. These results suggest that silicon microrings can be used for pair generation over a wide range of pump powers, which may benefit applications in remotely pumped architectures, where the pump level might not be known a priori.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1640968
- PAR ID:
- 10145682
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- OSA Continuum
- Volume:
- 3
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 2578-7519
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 1138
- Size(s):
- Article No. 1138
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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