2019/09/16 by Dvir Munk, Moshe Katzman, Mirit Hen +6
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustic Wave Phenomena Research #Acoustic wave #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Modulation (music) #Photonic and Optical Devices #Photonic integrated circuit #Photonics #Planar #Silicon #Silicon on insulator #Silicon photonics #Surface acoustic wave #physics.app-ph #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12157-x
published as Nature Communications 10, 4214 (2019)
openalex publication_date 2019/09/16 · openalex created_date 2019/09/19 · arxiv created 2020/11/03 · arxiv updated 2020/11/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Opto-mechanical interactions in planar photonic integrated circuits draw great interest in basic research and applications. However, opto-mechanics is practically absent in the most technologically significant photonics platform: silicon on insulator. Previous demonstrations required the under-etching and suspension of silicon structures. Here we present surface acoustic wave-photonic devices in silicon on insulator, up to 8 GHz frequency. Surface waves are launched through absorption of modulated pump light in metallic gratings and thermo-elastic expansion. The surface waves are detected through photo-elastic modulation of an optical probe in standard race-track resonators. Devices do not involve piezo-electric actuation, suspension of waveguides or hybrid material integration. Wavelength conversion of incident microwave signals and acoustic true time delays up to 40 ns are demonstrated on-chip. Lastly, discrete-time microwave-photonic filters with up to six taps and 20 MHz-wide passbands are realized using acoustic delays. The concept is suitable for integrated microwave-photonics signal processing.