Integrated nonlinear photonic circuits received rapid development in recent years, providing all-optical functionalities enabled by cavity-enhanced photon-photon interaction for classical and quantum applications. A high-efficiency fiber-to-chip interface is key to these integrated photonic circuits for quantum information tasks, as photon-loss is a major source that weakens quantum protocols. Here, overcoming material and fabrication limitation of thin-film aluminum nitride by adopting a stepwise waveguiding scheme, we demonstrate low-loss adiabatic fiber-optic couplers in aluminum nitride films with a substantial thickness (∼600 nm) for optimized nonlinear photon interaction. For telecom (1550 nm) and near-visible (780 nm) transverse magnetic-polarized light, the measured insertion loss of the fiber-optic coupler is -0.97 dB and -2.6 dB, respectively. Our results will facilitate the use of aluminum nitride integrated photonic circuits as efficient quantum resources for generation of entangled photons and squeezed light on microchips.
The compact size, scalability, and strongly confined fields in integrated photonic devices enable new functionalities in photonic networking and information processing, both classical and quantum. Gallium phosphide (GaP) is a promising material for active integrated photonics due to its high refractive index, wide bandgap, strong nonlinear properties, and large acousto‐optic figure of merit. This study demonstrates that silicon‐lattice‐matched boron‐doped GaP (BGaP), grown at the 12‐inch wafer scale, provides similar functionalities as GaP. BGaP optical resonators exhibit intrinsic quality factors exceeding 25,000 and 200,000 at visible and telecom wavelengths, respectively. It further demonstrates the electromechanical generation of low‐loss acoustic waves and an integrated acousto‐optic (AO) modulator. High‐resolution spatial and compositional mapping, combined with ab initio calculations, indicate two candidates for the excess optical loss in the visible band: the silicon‐GaP interface and boron dimers. These results demonstrate the promise of the BGaP material platform for the development of scalable AO technologies at telecom and provide potential pathways toward higher performance at shorter wavelengths.
more » « less- PAR ID:
- 10478976
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Materials
- Volume:
- 36
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 0935-9648
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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