Measurements of a Silicon Photonic ROADM (Project Report CIAN2-3-Y3)

A multi-university partnership led by UCSD collaborated with Sandia National Labs in an NSF-funded silicon photonics multi-project wafer (MPW) project. This is a report of the ROADM +VOA (reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer + variable optical attenuator) device made using silicon photonics, including passive and doped silicon waveguides and metalization.

Loss-Modulation-Based Wavelength-Range Shifting of Tunable EDF Ring Laser with Cascaded-Chirped Long-Period Fiber Grating for Temperature Measurement

A novel tunable Erbium-doped fiber ring laser (EDFRL) with a cascaded-chirped long-period fiber grating (C-CLPG) as a wavelength selection filter is proposed from the viewpoint of the sensor use, in which a variable optical attenuator (VOA) is employed as an intracavity loss modulator to change the oscillation wavelength region so that the resultant tuning wavelength range is widened. In the demonstrative experiment for temperature measurements, oscillation over the wavelength range of 12.85 nm (1557.62~1570.47 nm), which is more than three times range of the previously presented laser and is equivalent to 64 °C in terms of temperature change, was achieved, while a single-wavelength oscillation was maintained. In addition, a practical technique for realizing a temperature measurement by combining with the VOA control is also discussed.

Optimized V-Shaped Beam Micro-Electrothermal Actuator Using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Technique

Background: Electrothermal microactuators are very promising for wide range of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) applications due to the low voltage requirement and large force produced. Method: A new optimized V-beam electrothermal micro actuator was implemented in variable optical attenuator. In this work, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique is proposed to design the Vshaped beam. Result: The approach has successfully improved both angular displacement & output force of the microactuator. Entropy generation rate was used as optimization criteria.