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Nonlinear propagation in periodic media has been studied for decades, yielding demonstrations of numerous phenomena including strong temporal compression and slow light generation. Gap solitons, that propagate at frequencies inside the stopband, have been observed in optical fibres but have been elusive in photonic chips. In this manuscript, we investigate nonlinear pulse propagation in a chip-based nonlinear Bragg grating at frequencies inside the stopband and observe clear, unequivocal signatures of gap soliton propagation, including slow light, intensity-dependent transmission, intensity-dependent temporal delay and gap soliton compression. Our experiments which are performed in an on-chip ultra-silicon-rich nitride (USRN) Bragg grating with picosecond time scales, reveal slow light group velocity reduction to 35%–40% of the speed of light in vacuum, change in the temporal delay of 7 ps at low peak powers between 15.7 W–36.6 W, which is accompanied by up to 2.7× temporal compression of input pulses. Theoretical calculations using the nonlinear coupled mode equations confirm the observations of intensity-dependent temporal delay. Of fundamental importance, this demonstration opens up on-chip platforms for novel experimental studies of gap solitons as the basis of all-optical buffers, delay lines and optical storage.

The generation of optical pulse trains from continuous-wave light has attracted growing attention in recent years because it provides a simple way to obtain high repetition rate ultrashort pulses. While pulse generation has been extensively demonstrated in optical fibers, pulse train generation from weak, continuous wave light in photonic chips has posed significant challenges because of the short interaction length and therefore difficulty in acquiring sufficient new frequency content, and/or absence of the appropriate dispersion environment. In this manuscript, we report the pulse train generation of a low continuous-wave signal to 18 ps, by leveraging cross-phase modulation induced by co-propagating pump pulses with a peak power of 3.7 W in an ultra-silicon-rich nitride grating. The pulse train generation dynamics are documented both experimentally and theoretically to arise from cross-phase modulation-induced generation of new spectral content, and dispersive re-phasing. This is a new approach in which picosecond pulse generation may be achieved from low power, continuous-wave light.

We demonstrate a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible optical parametric Bragg amplifier on an ultra-silicon-rich nitride chip. The amplifier design incorporates advantageous group index properties in a nonlinear Bragg grating to circumvent phase matching limitations arising from the bulk material and waveguide dispersion. The grating structure further augments the effective nonlinear parameter of 800 W−1/m, considerably lowering the power required for the observation of strong parametric gain. On/off optical parametric gain of 20 dB is achieved using a low peak power of 1.6 W, in good agreement with numerical calculations. This represents a 7 dB improvement in the parametric gain compared to the absence of grating enhancement which is attributed to the Bragg grating induced superior phase matching.

Efficient and extended light storage mechanisms are pivotal in photonics, particularly in optical communications, microwave photonics, and quantum networks, as they offer a direct route to circumvent electrical conversion losses and surmount bandwidth constraints. Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) is an established method to store optical information by transferring it to the acoustic domain, but current on-chip SBS efforts have limited bandwidth or storage time due to the phonon lifetime of several nanoseconds. An alternate approach known as quasi-light storage (QLS), which involves the creation of delayed replicas of optical data pulses via SBS in conjunction with a frequency comb, has been proposed to lift the storage time constraint; however, its realization has been confined to lengthy optical fibers, constraining integration with on-chip optical elements and form factors. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of QLS on a photonic chip leveraging the large SBS gain of chalcogenide glass, achieving delays of up to 500 ns for 1 ns long signal pulses, surpassing typical Brillouin storage processes' acoustic lifetime by more than an order of magnitude and waveguide transit time by two orders of magnitude. We experimentally and numerically investigate the dynamics of on-chip QLS and reveal that the interplay between the acoustic wave that stores the optical signal and subsequent optical pump pulses leads to a reshaping of the acoustic field. Our demonstrations illustrate the potential for achieving ultra-long storage times of individual pulses by several hundred pulse widths, marking a significant stride toward advancing the field of all-optical storage and delay mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breaking the symmetry between forward- and backward-propagating optical modes is of fundamental scientific interest and enables crucial functionalities, such as isolators, circulators, and duplex communication systems. Although there has been progress in achieving optical isolation on-chip, integrated broadband nonreciprocal signal processing functionalities that enable transmitting and receiving via the same low-loss planar waveguide, without altering the frequency or mode of the signal, remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate a nonreciprocal delay scheme based on the unidirectional transfer of optical data pulses to acoustic waves in a chip-based integration platform. We experimentally demonstrate that this scheme is not impacted by simultaneously counterpropagating optical signals. Furthermore, we achieve a bandwidth more than an order of magnitude broader than the intrinsic optoacoustic linewidth, linear operation for a wide range of signal powers, and importantly, show that this scheme is wavelength preserving and avoids complicated multimode structures.

Entangled multiphoton states lie at the heart of quantum information, computing, and communications. In recent years, topology has risen as a new avenue to robustly transport quantum states in the presence of fabrication defects, disorder, and other noise sources. Whereas topological protection of single photons and correlated photons has been recently demonstrated experimentally, the observation of topologically protected entangled states has thus far remained elusive. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the topological protection of spatially entangled biphoton states. We observe robustness in crucial features of the topological biphoton correlation map in the presence of deliberately introduced disorder in the silicon nanophotonic structure, in contrast with the lack of robustness in non-topological structures. The topological protection is shown to ensure the coherent propagation of the entangled topological modes, which may lead to robust propagation of quantum information in disordered systems.

Solitons have been a subject of intense intellectual curiosity and an avenue for a plethora of applications since they are first observed in water waves. Optical solitons, in particular, have seen tremendous progress, starting from their first theoretical predictions in optical fiber in 1973. On the 50th anniversary of this seminal work from Haseagawa and Tappert, a review is provided on the progress in an important class of optical solitons, the Bragg soliton. Bragg solitons are optical solitons which exist in structures periodic in one dimension. The history of Bragg solitons is described, including the most salient advancements made both in theory and experiments. Recent progress made in integrated photonic devices and their associated design advantages are highlighted, with particular emphasis on how these have facilitated the realization of Bragg soliton dynamics on a chip and their optical processing functions. A discussion and future outlook for this burgeoning field provides a perspective on how Bragg solitons may impact the field of photonics and future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sources of single photons are one of the key building blocks for quantum photonic technologies such as quantum secure communication and powerful quantum computing. To bring the proof-of-principle demonstration of these technologies from the laboratory to the real world, complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible photonic chips are highly desirable for photon generation, manipulation, processing and even detection because of their compactness, scalability, robustness, and the potential for integration with electronics. In this paper, we review the development of photonic devices made from materials (e.g., silicon) and processes that are compatible with CMOS fabrication facilities for the generation of single photons.

The Year 2022 marks 100 years since Leon Brillouin predicted and theoretically described the interaction of optical waves with acoustic waves in a medium. Accordingly, this resonant multi-wave interaction is referred to as Brillouin scattering. Today, Brillouin scattering has found a multitude of applications, ranging from microscopy of biological tissue, remote sensing over many kilometers, and signal processing in compact photonic integrated circuits smaller than the size of a thumbnail. What allows Brillouin scattering to be harnessed over such different length scales and research domains are its unique underlying properties, namely, its narrow linewidth in the MHz range, a frequency shift in the GHz range, large frequency selective gain or loss, frequency tunability, and optical reconfigurability. Brillouin scattering is also a ubiquitous effect that can be observed in many different media, such as freely propagating in gases and liquids, as well as over long lengths of low-loss optical glass fibers or short semiconductor waveguides. A recent trend of Brillouin research focuses on micro-structured waveguides and integrated photonic platforms. The reduction in the size of waveguides allows tailoring the overlap between the optical and acoustic waves and promises many novel applications in a compact footprint. In this review article, we give an overview of the evolution and development of the field of Brillouin scattering over the last one hundred years toward current lines of active research. We provide the reader with a perspective of recent trends and challenges that demand further research efforts and give an outlook toward the future of this exciting and diverse research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical carrier recovery provides a method to increase the carrier-to-signal power ratio at the receiver side of an optical communications system. Here, we propose to use optical carrier recovery based on stimulated Brillouin scattering to help overcome performance limits of Kramers-Kronig direct detection systems that arise due to the need for a high carrier-to-signal power ratio. By transmitting a low power pilot tone along with the signal, we simplify the stimulated Brillouin scattering based optical carrier recovery subsystem, toward better compatibility with the technology demands of short-reach systems. Experimental results show that after 80 km standard single mode fibre transmission, an 8.8 dB required optical signal-to-noise ratio improvement is achieved by the proposed optical carrier recovery subsystem, when compared with the standard Kramers-Kronig direct detection system. Moreover, we measure a receiver sensitivity enhancement of more than 2.8 dB in an optically pre-amplified receiver. These results indicate the potential of the proposed optical carrier recovery subsystem to improve reach or power requirements for Kramers-Kronig direct detection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wideband microwave signals with high time-frequency linearity for high-resolution radar applications can be optically generated using high-speed electronic waveform generators. Frequency-shifting modulation in an optical cavity provides an attractive approach to generate broadband microwave signals with reduced complexity requiring only MHz-level electronics. However, the in-loop signal instability and inter-pulse interference usually cause amplitude fluctuations, leading to limited signal-to-noise ratio and signal bandwidth. Here, we overcome these challenges and demonstrate, for the first time, the photonic generation of 30-GHz-wide stepped-frequency (SF) signals with 100 MHz frequency steps defined by an MHz-level electrical oscillator. We achieved this performance by mitigating the in-loop polarization scrambling and inter-pulse interference using a polarization-maintaining cavity and a high-extinction optical switch. This allows stable consecutive acousto-optic frequency-shifting modulation that significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio. While achieving a bandwidth surpassing the state-of-the-art demonstrations based on wideband electronics, our approach alleviates the necessity for high-speed signal generators or wideband tunable lasers. To exemplify the utility, we systematically evaluate the signal quality and show its applications in radar imaging compared to those using electrical waveform generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed analysis of a 2R optical regenerator based on self-phase modulation in [As.sub.2][Se.sub.3] chalcogenide glass fiber using frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG). We obtain good agreement between the FROG measurements and theory, and confirm that the output pulses are near-transform limited. We show that two-photon absorption improves the profile of the power transfer function while not degrading the temporal performance. OCIS codes: 230.1150, 060.4510, 060.2340, 060.4370.

Writing a fiber Bragg grating in optical fiber generates an intrinsic broadband absorption term that can result in photothermal heating during subsequent use with fiber core guided light. This, in turn, can cause a significant shift of a grating resonance via the thermo-optic coefficient, even at low in-fiber light powers. The magnitude of the absorption term and its dependence on the grating strength are detailed. We further show how the degree of heating can be influenced by the particular environment in which the grating is placed and that, while the shift can be quite deleterious for some applications, its effect can be mitigated. A simple conductive model is developed. OCIS codes: 060.2340, 190.4870, 230.1480, 140.6810.

We show experimentally, through autocorrelation and frequency-resolved optical gating measurements, that a simple dispersive fiber Bragg grating with group delay ripple ~10 ps peak-to-peak may be used effectively to stretch ultrashort optical pulses for linear amplification before recompression to a higherpower pulse. We further investigate, through simulations, the effect of group delay ripple on the pulses and show that there are regimes, defined by both ripple magnitude and ripple period as a function of wavelength, in which the pulses are nearly perfectly compressed. A map with contours of equal figures of merit indicates favorable regions of operation. OCIS codes: 320.7160, 320.5550, 320.5520, 060.2310, 230.1480.

We demonstrate tapering of a high air-fill fraction photonic crystal fiber by using the flame-brushing technique. Transverse probing along the taper allows us to ascertain how the microstructure is preserved during tapering. Experimental results are compared with numerical simulations performed with the finite-difference time-domain and plane-wave expansion methods. Through this investigation we find that the fiber geometry is well preserved throughout the tapering process and we resolve the apparent discrepancies between simulation and experiment that arise through the finite extent of the fiber microstructure. OCIS codes: 060.2310, 060.2270, 060.2300, 050.0050, 060.2280.

Tunable dispersion compensators are an essential component for optical networks operating at 40 Gbits/s and beyond. One fiber-based tunable dispersion compensator that has proved to be effective consists of a chirped fiber Bragg grating tuned by a thin-film distributed resistive heating element. We describe several modifications to the heater design that minimize temperature-induced higher-order dispersion, eliminate the need for a second stabilization heater when the device is operated at constant ambient temperature, and significantly lower its maximum operating temperature. We demonstrate a tunable dispersion compensator with a single thin-film heater that provides over 500 ps/nm of tunable dispersion over a fixed 100-GHz bandwidth with a maximum operating temperature of less than 125 [degrees]C above ambient. OCIS codes: 060.2330, 060.2340, 230.1950, 230.1480.

We demonstrate a novel interferometric technique for highly accurate characterization of phase masks used in optical fiber grating fabrication. The principle of the measurement scheme is based on the analysis of the interference pattern formed between the first- and zero-order beams transmitted through or reflected from the grating under test. For spatial resolution of a few millimeters, our methods allow the determination of local variations of the order of 1-[micro]m grating period with an accuracy of a few picometers. These methods are applicable to a broad class of diffractive grating structures. OCIS codes: 050.2770, 060.2340, 120.3180.

Unwanted high-power and frequency-agile radio-frequency (RF) signals cause saturation and nonlinear distortions in sensitive RF receivers. RF notch filters with reconfigurable responses over multiple frequency bands are highly sought after to prevent these detrimental effects. Microwave photonic (MWP) notch filters have shown increased frequency agility compared to their electronic counterparts. However, demonstrated filter schemes focus only on single notch responses, leaving them unable to simultaneously attenuate multiple interferers over a wide frequency range. In this work, we demonstrate a high-performance chip-based MWP notch filter with three independent notches widely tunable over 20 GHz. The filter exhibits low RF passband losses of 8 dB and peak notch depth greater than 40 dB with 500 MHz spectral resolution. Specifically, each notch is formed through cascaded optical processing from on-chip, low-loss Si $_3$ N $_4$ micro-resonators and Brillouin gain on an As $_2$ S $_3$ photonic chip. We use this filter to demonstrate high-performance analog RF filtering by substantially attenuating multiple interferers, and show effective image rejection during RF down-conversion in a communications receiver to enable a large reduction of error vector magnitude (EVM) from 60% to 15%. Finally, we provide performance analysis and design perspectives for future photonic integration of the proposed filter subsystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]