Passively-thermally-stabilized photonic apparatus, method, and applications
First Claim
1. A photonic apparatus, comprising:
- an interferometer having a second arm, wherein the interferometer is characterized by a negative net optical path length change as a function of temperature, δ
LM/δ
T; and
a waveguide closed loop resonator characterized by a positive optical path length change as a function of temperature, δ
LR/δ
T, disposed in light-coupling proximity to the second interferometer arm, wherein the absolute value of δ
LM/δ
T is equal to the absolute value of δ
LR/δ
T, such that the apparatus is characterized by a resonance having substantially no spectral shift as a function of temperature, wherein the apparatus is an athermal/temperature insensitive, resonant photonic device.
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods that compensate for the thermally-induced drift of the resonance frequency of a closed-loop resonator include, in an exemplary embodiment, a waveguide-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and an overcoupled, waveguide-based microring resonator. The temperature-induced red-shifting ring resonance can be balanced by a spectral blueshift with temperature of the MZI. To stabilize the resonance of the ring at a given wavelength, the change in optical path lengths with temperature of the ring and the MZI should be equal and opposite. The interplay of nonlinear change in phase of ring resonator with temperature and linear change in phase of MZI with temperature, along with matching the period of this phase change, gives rise to perfect oscillation in the combined system resonance with temperature.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A photonic apparatus, comprising:
-
an interferometer having a second arm, wherein the interferometer is characterized by a negative net optical path length change as a function of temperature, δ
LM/δ
T; anda waveguide closed loop resonator characterized by a positive optical path length change as a function of temperature, δ
LR/δ
T, disposed in light-coupling proximity to the second interferometer arm, wherein the absolute value of δ
LM/δ
T is equal to the absolute value of δ
LR/δ
T, such that the apparatus is characterized by a resonance having substantially no spectral shift as a function of temperature, wherein the apparatus is an athermal/temperature insensitive, resonant photonic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for stabilizing the temperature-induced drift of the optical resonance of a closed loop resonator at a given wavelength, comprising:
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providing a closed loop resonator characterized by a phase spectrum in the form of a resonance that non-linearly red-shifts in wavelength with increase in temperature and phase at any given wavelength; and providing a matching phase spectrum that changes linearly with temperature at the given wavelength, wherein the matched phase spectrums have a phase change from Φ
0 to Φ
0+2π
over the temperature change (Δ
T).- View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification