Bidirectional Crosstalk and Back-Reflection Free WDM Active Optical Interconnects

In this letter, we present an integrated solution for bidirectional WDM optical interconnection based on semiconductor optical amplifiers and nonreciprocal micro-ring resonators in Si3N4/Ce:YIG. The circuit performance has been numerically evaluated, demonstrating a reduction of crosstalk and back-reflection of >20 dB for a 10-channel 100-GHz-spaced WDM bidirectional active optical interconnect. Although a silicon-nitride platform has been considered, the proposed solution can be effective also on a silicon platform, where back-scattering induced by the waveguide roughness is much stronger.