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Integrated passive nonlinear optical isolators

Nature Photonics volume 17, pages 143–149 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Fibre and bulk optical isolators are widely used to stabilize laser cavities by preventing unwanted feedback. However, their integrated counterparts have been slow to be adopted. Although several strategies for on-chip optical isolation have been realized, these rely on either integration of magneto-optic materials or high-frequency modulation with acousto-optic or electro-optic modulators. Here we demonstrate an integrated approach for passively isolating a continuous-wave laser using the intrinsically non-reciprocal Kerr nonlinearity in ring resonators. Using silicon nitride as a model platform, we achieve single ring isolation of 17–23 dB with 1.8–5.5-dB insertion loss, and a cascaded ring isolation of 35 dB with 5-dB insertion loss. Employing these devices, we demonstrate hybrid integration and isolation with a semiconductor laser chip.

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Fig. 1: Theory of operation.
Fig. 2: Isolation measurement.
Fig. 3: Performance optimization.
Fig. 4: Isolator cascade.
Fig. 5: DFB hybrid integration.

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Data availability

All data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Carlson, T. Briles, J. Zang, J. Black, S.-P. Yu, F. M. Mayor, J. F. Herrmann, A. H. Safavi-Naeini, S. Papp and R. Trivedi for collaboration and discussions, and L. Wu and K. Vahala for assistance with the DFB laser. A.W. acknowledges the Herb and Jane Dwight Stanford Graduate Fellowship (SGF) and the NTT Research Fellowship for support. G.H.A. acknowledges support from STMicroelectronics Stanford Graduate Fellowship (SGF) and Kwanjeong Educational Foundation. K.V.G. acknowledges support from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) (12ZB520N). The authors from Stanford acknowledge funding support from DARPA under the LUMOS programme. Part of this work was performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF)/Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF), supported by the National Science Foundation under award no. ECCS-2026822.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Alexander D. White, Geun Ho Ahn.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. E. L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Alexander D. White, Geun Ho Ahn, Kasper Van Gasse, Ki Youl Yang & Jelena Vučković

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Lin Chang & John E. Bowers

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  1. Alexander D. White
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Contributions

A.D.W., G.H.A., K.V.G. and K.Y.Y. conceived of the project. A.D.W., G.H.A. and K.V.G. performed the experiments. G.H.A. developed the silicon-nitride fabrication process and fabricated the devices. L.C. and J.E.B. provided the semiconductor laser chip and experimental guidance. J.V. supervised the project. All authors contributed to data analysis and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alexander D. White or Geun Ho Ahn.

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Nature Photonics thanks Sunil Mittal and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–11, Discussion and Table 1.

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White, A.D., Ahn, G.H., Gasse, K.V. et al. Integrated passive nonlinear optical isolators. Nat. Photon. 17, 143–149 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-01110-y

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