Slow light enhanced optical nonlinearity in a silicon photonic crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguide

Opt Express. 2011 Oct 10;19(21):19861-74. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.019861.

Abstract

We demonstrate highly enhanced optical nonlinearity in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) in a four-wave mixing experiment. Using a CROW consisting of 200 coupled resonators based on width-modulated photonic crystal nanocavities in a line defect, we obtained an effective nonlinear constant exceeding 10,000 /W/m, thanks to slow light propagation combined with a strong spatial confinement of light achieved by the wavelength-sized cavities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Crystallization
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electrons
  • Light
  • Models, Statistical
  • Optics and Photonics / methods*
  • Photons
  • Silicon / chemistry

Substances

  • Silicon