Expanding the quantum photonic toolbox in AlGaAsOI

J. E. Castro; T. J. Steiner; L. Thiel; A. Dinkelacker; C. McDonald; P. Pintus; L. Chang; J. E. Bowers; G. Moody

doi:10.1063/5.0098984

APL Photonics (Sep 2022)

Expanding the quantum photonic toolbox in AlGaAsOI

J. E. Castro,
T. J. Steiner,
L. Thiel,
A. Dinkelacker,
C. McDonald,
P. Pintus,
L. Chang,
J. E. Bowers,
G. Moody

Affiliations

J. E. Castro: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
T. J. Steiner: Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
L. Thiel: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
A. Dinkelacker: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
C. McDonald: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
P. Pintus: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
L. Chang: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
J. E. Bowers: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
G. Moody: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0098984
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7, no. 9
pp. 096103 – 096103-10

Abstract

Read online

Aluminum gallium arsenide-on-insulator (AlGaAsOI) exhibits large χ2 and χ3 optical nonlinearities, a wide tunable bandgap, low waveguide propagation loss, and a large thermo-optic coefficient, making it an exciting platform for integrated quantum photonics. With ultrabright sources of quantum light established in AlGaAsOI, the next step is to develop the critical building blocks for chip-scale quantum photonic circuits. Here we expand the quantum photonic toolbox for AlGaAsOI by demonstrating edge couplers, 3 dB splitters, tunable interferometers, and waveguide crossings with performance comparable to or exceeding silicon and silicon-nitride quantum photonic platforms. As a demonstration, we de-multiplex photonic qubits through an unbalanced interferometer, paving the route toward ultra-efficient and high-rate chip-scale demonstrations of photonic quantum computation and information applications.

Published in APL Photonics

ISSN: 2378-0967 (Online)
Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General): Applied optics. Photonics
Website: https://aplphotonics.aip.org

About the journal