title: Pulse compression in adiabatically tapered silicon photonic wires.
abstract: We present a comprehensive analysis of pulse compression in adiabatically tapered silicon photonic wire waveguides (Si-PhWWGs), both at telecom (λ ∼ 1.55 μm) and mid-IR (λ ≳ 2.1 μm) wavelengths. Our theoretical and computational study is based on a rigorous model that describes the coupled dynamics of the optical field and photogenerated free carriers, as well as the influence of the physical and geometrical parameters of the Si-PhWWGs on these dynamics. We consider both the soliton and non-soliton pulse propagation regimes, rendering the conclusions of this study relevant to a broad range of experimental settings and practical applications. In particular, we show that by engineering the linear and nonlinear optical properties of Si-PhWWGs through adiabatically varying their width, one can achieve more than 10× pulse compression in millimeter-long waveguides. The inter-dependence between the pulse characteristics and compression efficiency is also discussed.
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lavdas
authors.forename: Jeffrey B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Driscoll
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Grote
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Osgood
authors.forename: Nicolae C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Panoiu