Nanophotonics (Nov 2019)

All-in-one silicon photonic polarization processor

  • Zhou Hailong,
  • Zhao Yuhe,
  • Wei Yanxian,
  • Li Feng,
  • Dong Jianji,
  • Zhang Xinliang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2019-0310
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 12
pp. 2257 – 2267

Abstract

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With the great developments in optical communication technology and large-scale optical integration technology, it is imperative to realize the traditional functions of polarization processing on an integration platform. Most of the existing polarization devices, such as polarization multiplexers/demultiplexers, polarization controllers, polarization analyzers, etc., perform only a single function. Definitely, integrating all these polarization functions on a chip will increase function flexibility and integration density and also cut the cost. In this article, we demonstrate an all-in-one chip-scale polarization processor based on a linear optical network. The polarization functions can be configured by tuning the array of phase shifters on the chip. We demonstrate multiple polarization processing functions, including those of a multiple-input-multiple-output polarization descrambler, polarization controller, and polarization analyzer, which are the basic building blocks of polarization processing. More functions can be realized by using an additional two-dimensional output grating. A numerical gradient descent algorithm is employed to self-configure and self-optimize these functions. Our demonstration suggests great potential for chip-scale, reconfigurable, and fully programmable photonic polarization processors with the artificial intelligence algorithm.

Keywords