100-Gbps per-channel all-optical wavelength conversion without pre-amplifiers based on an integrated nanophotonic platform

All-optical wavelength conversion based on four-wave mixing attracts intense interest in many areas, especially in optical fiber communications, due to the advantages of femtosecond response, modulation-format transparency, and high flexibility in optical network management. In this paper, we present the first optical translation of 32-GBaud 16QAM signals with an integrated Si3N4 nonlinear nanophotonic waveguide. An on-chip continuous-wave conversion efficiency of up to -0.6 dB from S band to C band is achieved in the dispersion-engineered low-loss Si3N4 nonlinear waveguide that is back-end compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor processes. The high conversion efficiency avoids the use of external optical amplifiers for signal demodulation. The converted idler is successfully received with a sensitivity penalty of less than 0.5 dB. Moreover, pre-amplifier-free multichannel wavelength conversion of over-100-Gbps coherent signals in C band is also demonstrated using the same Si3N4 nanophotonic waveguide via changing the pump wavelength, which shows good flexibility in all-optical signal processing. Additionally, wavelength conversion with a bandwidth over 100 nm can be expected by optimizing the current Si3N4 nanophotonic waveguide, which is promising for commercial coherent fiber communications and has bright prospects in various areas including optical signal processing, imaging, optical spectroscopy, and quantum optics.

Automated summary

This paper presents the first optical translation of 32-GBaud 16QAM signals with a Si3N4 nonlinear nanophotonic waveguide. High conversion efficiency and flexibility in optical network management are achieved, which eliminates the need for external optical amplifiers. The method shows promising applications in commercial coherent fiber communications and various areas including optical signal processing, imaging, optical spectroscopy, and quantum optics.