{"title":"Athermal Tantalum Pentoxide Mach-Zehnder Interferometers Based on Structural Compensation Method","authors":"Mingjian You;Zhenyu Liu;Weiren Cheng;Xingyu Tang;Ning Ding;Zhengqi Li;Min Wang;Li Shen;Qiancheng Zhao","doi":"10.1109/JPHOT.2025.3534244","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"We demonstrate Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based (MZI) athermal photonic devices using the structural compensation method. Unlike previous structural compensation studies that were applied on the thermal sensitive materials such as silicon, this work is implemented in tantalum pentoxide (Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>) platform whose thermo-optic coefficient is low. This allows us to achieve ultra-athermalized filters by combining the structural compensation method and the material's own thermo-optic properties. Two types of devices are proposed: the asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (AMZI) and the ring-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer (RMZI). The temperature-dependent wavelength shift (TDWS) of the AMZI device is only 1.98 pm/K around 1550 nm which is 4.6 times smaller than a regular MZI. The TDWS remains below 2.23 pm/K across a broad bandwidth from 1480 nm to 1580 nm. By breaking the linear dependence between the wavelength shift and the temperature change, the maximum resonance drift can be restricted by using a ring-coupled MZI. Owning to Fano effect, the transmission spectrum of the RMZI device exhibits an oscillating behavior when facing temperature changes. This work proves the effectiveness of structural compensation method on an already low thermo-optic photonic platform, paving the way towards realization of ultra-athermal integrated optical filters in a low-loss and CMOS-compatible platform.","PeriodicalId":13204,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Photonics Journal","volume":"17 1","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10854680","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE Photonics Journal","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10854680/","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We demonstrate Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based (MZI) athermal photonic devices using the structural compensation method. Unlike previous structural compensation studies that were applied on the thermal sensitive materials such as silicon, this work is implemented in tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) platform whose thermo-optic coefficient is low. This allows us to achieve ultra-athermalized filters by combining the structural compensation method and the material's own thermo-optic properties. Two types of devices are proposed: the asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (AMZI) and the ring-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer (RMZI). The temperature-dependent wavelength shift (TDWS) of the AMZI device is only 1.98 pm/K around 1550 nm which is 4.6 times smaller than a regular MZI. The TDWS remains below 2.23 pm/K across a broad bandwidth from 1480 nm to 1580 nm. By breaking the linear dependence between the wavelength shift and the temperature change, the maximum resonance drift can be restricted by using a ring-coupled MZI. Owning to Fano effect, the transmission spectrum of the RMZI device exhibits an oscillating behavior when facing temperature changes. This work proves the effectiveness of structural compensation method on an already low thermo-optic photonic platform, paving the way towards realization of ultra-athermal integrated optical filters in a low-loss and CMOS-compatible platform.
期刊介绍:
Breakthroughs in the generation of light and in its control and utilization have given rise to the field of Photonics, a rapidly expanding area of science and technology with major technological and economic impact. Photonics integrates quantum electronics and optics to accelerate progress in the generation of novel photon sources and in their utilization in emerging applications at the micro and nano scales spanning from the far-infrared/THz to the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. IEEE Photonics Journal is an online-only journal dedicated to the rapid disclosure of top-quality peer-reviewed research at the forefront of all areas of photonics. Contributions addressing issues ranging from fundamental understanding to emerging technologies and applications are within the scope of the Journal. The Journal includes topics in: Photon sources from far infrared to X-rays, Photonics materials and engineered photonic structures, Integrated optics and optoelectronic, Ultrafast, attosecond, high field and short wavelength photonics, Biophotonics, including DNA photonics, Nanophotonics, Magnetophotonics, Fundamentals of light propagation and interaction; nonlinear effects, Optical data storage, Fiber optics and optical communications devices, systems, and technologies, Micro Opto Electro Mechanical Systems (MOEMS), Microwave photonics, Optical Sensors.