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Optics Letters

Mode multiplexing in optical frequency mixers

Jonathan R. Kurz, Jie Huang, Xiu-Ping Xie, Takashi Saida, M. M. Fejer

Published Mar 15, 2004• 31 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Asymmetric Y junctions allow the development of a new class of optical frequency mixers that utilize higher-order waveguide modes for signal processing. We measure high-contrast (>30 dB) mode sorting in asymmetric Y junctions by use of a novel technique: efficient TM00, TM10, and TM20 mode mixing in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide. We also demonstrate an odd-to-even mode wavelength converter capable of spectral inversion without offset or bidirectional wavelength conversion.

DOI
10.1364/ol.29.000551

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Asymmetric Y junctions allow the development of a new class of optical frequency mixers that utilize higher-order waveguide modes for signal processing. We measure high-contrast (>30 dB) mode sorting in asymmetric Y junctions by use of a novel technique: efficient TM00, TM10, and TM20 mode mixing in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide. We also demonstrate an odd-to-even mode wavelength converter capable of spectral inversion without offset or bidirectional wavelength conversion.
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Multi-longitudinal-mode lasers have been believed to be good candidates as pump sources for optical frequency conversion. However, we present a semiclassical model for the frequency conversion of optical signals with a multimode pump laser, which shows that fluctuations of the instantaneous pump power limit the conversion efficiency. In an experiment, we up-converted a 1.55-$\ensuremath{\mu}$m optical signal in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide using a multi-longitudinal-mode laser and observed a maximum conversion efficiency of 68%, in good agreement with our theoretical model. Compared to single-mode pumping, multimode pumping is not a suitable technique for attaining stable near-unity-efficiency frequency conversion. However, our results could find application in the characterization of the spectral or temporal structure of multi-longitudinal-mode lasers.
We propose and experimentally demonstrate phase-regenerative wavelength conversion in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides, using either: a single-stage implementation based on a simultaneous combination of two cascaded second-order nonlinear effects in a single periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide, or a two-stage implementation where two separate devices are used in sequence to give rise to the same nonlinear effects. The phase regeneration properties of the proposed wavelength conversion schemes are also investigated.
Spatial-mode-selective frequency conversion is potentially useful for both classical and quantum communication applications. By a judicious choice of the quasi-phase-matching period in a Kai(2) multimode waveguide, such conversion can be achieved with high efficiency (close to 100%) and with low crosstalk (< -20 dB). For space-division multiplexing application with classical signals, where each spatial mode represents a separate signal channel, the selective conversion of a spatial mode without disrupting other signal modes can be used for reconfigurable spatial-mode de-multiplexing. This classical de-multiplexing capability can be also extended to the quantum regime, where the quantum state of the signal is preserved during frequency conversion, owing to the unitary nature of the sum-frequency generation (SFG) process. Building upon our previous experimental demonstration of the classical spatial-mode-selective frequency up-conversion in a two-mode PPLN waveguide, here we report the extension of this work into the single-photon-level regime. The signal (1540 nm) in either a single mode (TM00 or TM01) or a superimposition mode (TM00+TM01, TM00+iTM01) of the waveguide is selectively up-converted into TM01 SFG mode, by interacting with an appropriate pump mode (1560 nm). An accurate measurement of the single-photon-level SFG signals requires thorough filtering of the unwanted photons contributed by the second harmonic of the pump, residual pump noise extending to the signal band, and the Raman noise generated in the waveguide. We have investigated these unwanted photon sources and suppressed them by a combination of thin-film-interference and volume-Bragg-grating filters. Resulting single-photon-counting measurements show >70% internal conversion efficiency, better than -12dB crosstalk, and >100 ratio of the signal to background photon counts for all selected modes and mode superpositions.