A silicon reconfigurable optical processor based on a self-coupled optical waveguide

A novel silicon reconfigurable optical processor (SROP) is proposed based on a self-coupled optical waveguide (SCOW) resonant architecture. The SCOW is formed by a single meandering waveguide self-coupled to form directional couplers at the input and output ends. The SROP consists of three-stages of SCOW resonators, where the directional couplers are replaced by Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) to work as tunable couplers. Both phase shifters and variable optical attenuators (VOAs) are integrated in the device for active phase and amplitude tuning, respectively. By reconfiguring the states of tunable couplers, phase shifters and VOAs, the SROP is implemented as ring resonator, MZI, and Fabry-Perot cavity-based optical structures for versatile optical processing applications.

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