Stern Brian, Kim Kwangwoong, Gariah Harry, Bitauld David
Opt Express. 2021 Sep 13;29(19):29946-29959. doi: 10.1364/OE.432588.
We propose and demonstrate an integrated wavemeter capable of accurate and broadband measurements without control or knowledge of the temperature. In our design, interferometers composed of silicon and silicon nitride waveguides enable accurate measurements of an input optical wavelength despite large and rapid temperature fluctuations of 20°C by leveraging the disparity in thermo-optic properties of the waveguides. We derive formulas which resolve the wavelength and temperature ambiguity of the interferometers. The fabricated wavemeter chip is found to have a mean accuracy of 11 pm over an 80 nm range near 1550 nm. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an athermal silicon wavemeter and the lowest measurement error across such a broad wavelength range using silicon photonics. This result may reduce the cost and size of wavemeters used in combination with integrated lasers for optical communications, sensing, and other applications.
我们提出并展示了一种集成式波长计，它能够在无需控制温度或知晓温度的情况下进行精确的宽带测量。在我们的设计中，由硅和氮化硅波导组成的干涉仪，通过利用波导热光特性的差异，即使在温度大幅且快速波动20°C的情况下，也能精确测量输入光波长。我们推导了可解决干涉仪波长和温度模糊性的公式。经发现，所制造的波长计芯片在1550 nm附近的80 nm范围内平均精度为11 pm。据我们所知，这是首次展示无热硅波长计，并且是使用硅光子学在如此宽的波长范围内实现的最低测量误差。这一结果可能会降低与集成激光器结合用于光通信、传感及其他应用的波长计的成本和尺寸。
