A Hybrid Photonic Integrated Wavelength Converter on a Silicon-on-Insulator Substrate C. Stamatiadis 1 , L. Stampoulidis 2 , K. Vyrsokinos 1 , I. Lazarou 1 , D. Kalavrouziotis 1 , L. Zimmermann 3,4 , K. Voigt 3 , G. B. Preve 5 , L. Moerl 6 , J. Kreissl 6 and H. Avramopoulos 1 (1)National Technical University of Athens – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering 9 Heroon Polytechniou Street, Zografou 15773 – Athens, Greece, Email: cstamat@mail.ntua.gr (2) Constelex Technology Enablers, Corallia Microelectronics Innovation Center, 12 Sorou Str., Marousi, 15125, Athens, Greece (3) Technische Universitaet Berlin, Joint Lab Silicon Photonics HFT4, Einsteinufer 25, 10587 Berlin, Germany (4) IHP GmbH, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany (5) Nanophotonics Technology Center, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain (6) Fraunhofer-Institut für Nachrichtentechnik, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, Einsteinufer 37, 10587, Berlin, Germany Abstract: We present fabrication and testing of a wavelength converter integrated on a silicon-on- insulator substrate. The chip employs a hybrid integrated SOA and delay-interferometers integrated on 4ȝm SOI. We demonstrate 40Gb/s error-free performance. OCIS codes: (230.7405) Wavelength conversion devices; (060.4510) Optical communications 1. Introduction Hybrid integration on silicon substrates is attempted as a practical solution to generate compact, high-performance photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) - as an integration board - is attractive due to the cost- effective material and versatility; SOI substrates can be engineered to permit diverse single mode waveguide dimensions from hundreds of nanometers (nanowires) to tens of micrometers (rib waveguides). In the case of silicon nanowires, die-to-wafer bonding has enabled the integration of a variety of active components including micro-disk lasers [1] and photodetectors [2]. This technique has lead to commercial devices for optical interconnects and data communications. The application range of “hybrid silicon photonics” can be expanded with the utilization of integration boards with micro-meter scale dimensions. This waveguide technology enables the hybridization of mature, pre-fabricated III-V components due to the excellent matching of the optical modes between active chips and silicon rib waveguides. Flip-chip mounting methods based on thermo-compression are being developed for fabricating fully integrated and packaged hybrid silicon devices incorporating III-V lasers, photodetctors, high-speed modulators or semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) [3-4]. Another type of hybrid integration based on micro- solder bumps is now being attempted for the fabrication of all-optical wavelength converters (AOWCs) [5] applicable to next generation wavelength routed core networks. In this paper we demonstrate the fabrication and experimental testing of an all-optical wavelength converter hybrid integrated on a 4 ȝm SOI rib waveguide substrate. The photonic chip incorporates a 1.25 mm prefabricated non- linear SOA mounted on the SOI board using gold-tin bumps as small as 14 um and with lateral placement misalignment <1um. Optical filtering is realized by two cascaded delay interferometers (DIs) integrated on the SOI board using 2x2 multi-mode interference (MMI) couplers. Full free spectral range (FSR) tuning of the DIs is accomplished by two independently tuned on-chip thermal heaters. We demonstrate 40 Gb/s error-free wavelength conversion (WC) with power penalties < 4 dB and power consumption of only 700mW. Figure 1: a) Layout of hybrid AOWC, b) Mask design, c) SEM image of SOA bonded on SOI, d) SEM of SOA and SOI taper section OM3E.1.pdf 1 1/23/2012 11:47:46 AM OFC/NFOEC Technical Digest © 2012 OSA