Quenching of Resonantly Enhanced Absorption by Multimode Interference in Vertically-Coupled Waveguide Photodetectors,
Abstract
Understanding optical propagation in lossy planar waveguides is important for photonic integration. 'Steady-state eigenanalysis' , ie: an analysis using only the eigenvalues (propagation constants Beta i + j alpha i for modes i) of the complex-index stab waveguide problem, is often used to model such structures, and was recently used to optimize vertically-coupled detectors by maximizing alpha i. It predicts that alpha i can be enhanced by adjusting the absorber thickness or by inserting an additional, transparent matching layer, as indicated by a sharp resonance in the dependence of alpha i on layer thickness (fig. 2, solid curve). However, recent experiments and BPM simulations indicate that steady-state eigenanalysis fails to adequately describe devices optimized with matching layers: while enhanced absorption is observed, the predicted resonance is absent. Here we show that the resonance predicted by steady-state eigenanalysis for the conventional structure is quenched by multimode interference associated with modal power non-orthogonality, and can be accurately simulated using an eigenmode-based propagation method.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADP008106
Entities
People
- E. C. Pennings
- R. J. Deri
- R. J. Hawkins