Thin film wavelength converters for photonic integrated circuits

TLDR

Quasi‑phase‑matched wavelength converters are highly desirable for nonlinear optics in photonic integrated circuits, but existing waveguide and quasi‑phase‑matching technologies have limited their realization. This work presents a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide fabricated on a silicon nitride–thin‑film LN platform. The device employs a sub‑micrometer LN waveguide core on the thin‑film platform, with periodic poling applied directly to the film via a novel surface‑poling technique to achieve quasi‑phase‑matching. The converter achieved 160 % W⁻¹ cm⁻² normalized efficiency for 1530 nm second‑harmonic generation with 0.3 dB cm⁻¹ loss, and its compact, high‑efficiency design enables easy integration into photonic platforms such as optical communications, quantum storage, and frequency referencing.

Abstract

Quasi-phase-matched (QPM) wavelength converters are highly desirable for emerging nonlinear optics applications in photonic integrated circuits, but available waveguide and quasi-phase-matching technologies have so far constrained their realization. In this work, we present a periodically poled lithium niobate (LN) waveguide on a silicon nitride–thin film LN platform. It contains a submicrometer waveguide core for enhancing nonlinear interactions that is more than one order of magnitude smaller than those of previous QPM waveguides. Periodic poling was applied directly to the thin film LN for quasi-phase-matching by a new surface poling technology. We demonstrated 160%  W−1·cm−2 normalized efficiency for second harmonic generation at 1530 nm with ultralow propagation loss (0.3 dB/cm) in the telecom band. This highly efficient and compact wavelength converter has the potential for straightforward integration with various photonic platforms, e.g., on-chip microsystems such as optical communication networks, quantum storage, and optical frequency referencing.