Guided Mid‐IR and Near‐IR Light within a Hybrid Hyperbolic‐Material/Silicon Waveguide Heterostructure
Abstract
Silicon waveguides have enabled large‐scale manipulation and processing of near‐infrared optical signals on chip. Yet, expanding the bandwidth of guided waves to other frequencies will further increase the functionality of silicon as a photonics platform. Frequency multiplexing by integrating additional architectures is one approach to the problem, but this is challenging to design and integrate within the existing form factor due to scaling with the free‐space wavelength. This paper demonstrates that a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)/silicon hybrid waveguide can simultaneously enable dual‐band operation at both mid‐infrared (6.5–7.0 µm) and telecom (1.55 µm) frequencies, respectively. The device is realized via the lithography‐free transfer of hBN onto a silicon waveguide, maintaining near‐infrared operation. In addition, mid‐infrared waveguiding of the hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) supported in hBN is induced by the index contrast between the silicon waveguide and the surrounding air underneath the hBN, thereby eliminating the need for deleterious etching of the hyperbolic medium. The behavior of HPhP waveguiding in both straight and curved trajectories is validated within an analytical waveguide theoretical framework. This exemplifies a generalizable approach based on integrating hyperbolic media with silicon photonics for realizing frequency multiplexing in on‐chip photonic systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1002/adma.202004305
Entities
People
- D. N. Basov
- James H Edgar
- Joshua D Caldwell
- Ming-Ze He
- Sai S Sunku
- Sami I. Halimi
- Sharon M Weiss
- Song Liu
- Thomas. G. Folland
Organizations
- Columbia University
- Kansas State University
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Basic Energy Sciences
- Office of Naval Research
- Office of Science
- United States Department of Energy
- University of Iowa
- Vanderbilt University