We introduce an architecture for low-power (<0.05 W/Gb/s) demodulation of PM-DQPSK signals at 45.6 GB/s, and demonstrate an integrated package combining custom 10-channel PLC, photodiode array, and ASIC, capable of real-time polarization tracking.

We report on development of large-scale and high functionality photonic integrated circuits on InP and Si platforms for transmitter, receiver, filtering and routing applications and discuss the merits of both platform.

We highlight recent advances in advanced photonic integration of reliable densely integrated photonic integrated circuits (PIC) and high-index-contrast photonic lightwave circuits (PLC). The applications and benefits of these devices will be presented.

We demonstrate the ability to excite and monitor many whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of a microsphere resonator simultaneously in order to make broadband optical absorbance measurements. The 340 microm diameter microsphere is placed in a microfluidic channel. A hemispherical prism is used for coupling the WGMs into and out of the microsphere. The flat surface of the prism seals the microfluidic channel. The slight nonsphericity in the microsphere results in coupling to precessed modes whose emission is spatially separated from the reflected excitation light. The evanescent fields of the light trapped in WGMs interact with the surrounding environment. The change in transmission observed in the precessed modes is used to determine the absorbance of the surrounding environment. In contrast to our broadband optical absorbance measurements, previous WGM sensors have used only a single narrow mode to measure properties such as refractive index. With the microfluidic cell, we have measured the absorbance of solutions of dyes (lissamine green B, sunset yellow, orange G, and methylene blue), aromatic molecules (benzylamine and benzoic acid), and biological molecules (tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and o-phospho-L-tyrosine) at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. The microsphere surface was reacted with organosilane molecules to attach octadecyl groups, amino groups, and fluorogroups to the surface. Both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions were observed between the analytes and the microsphere surface, as indicated by changes in the measured effective pathlength with different organosilanes. For a given analyte and coated microsphere, the pathlength measurement was repeatable within a few percent. Methylene blue dye had a very strong interaction with the surface and pathlengths of several centimeters were measured. Choosing an appropriate surface coating to interact with a specific analyte should result in the highest sensitivity detection.

Three-stage Vernier, 3rd order lattice ring filters are implemented to realize a full C-band spectrometer. A polarization controller is also integrated for ldquosplit and fliprdquo operation.

The use of optical micro-ring resonators as a platform for quantitative and qualitative biosensing applications was explored. Vertically coupled, high refractive index micro-ring resonators, used as sensing elements, were fabricated on silicon chips by photolithographic techniques. An optical reader system consisting of a near-infrared broad band light source and an optical spectrum analyzer were employed for data acquisition. Micro-ring resonator surfaces were modified with specific target receptors, including antibodies and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides. The system was successfully used for label-free, specific, and rapid detection of whole bacterial cells, proteins and nucleic acids.

Tunable bandwidth, tunable line-shape filters are realized by incorporating Mach-Zehnder interferometers as directional coupler elements within higher order microring resonators. A flat-top bandwidth tuning range of 2.7 GHz to 21 GHz is demonstrated.

A high-index contrast PLC branching delay line filter realizes WDM filters for FTTP triplexer applications. The filters achieve low loss and high extinction ratios, while the ultra-compact dimensions of 1mm × 4mm accommodates thousands of chips a 6" silicon wafer.

A novel ring-resonator-based integrated photonic chip with ultrafine frequency resolution, providing programmable, stable, and accurate optical-phase control is demonstrated. The ability to manipulate the optical phase of the individual frequency components of a signal is a powerful tool for optical communications, signal processing, and RF photonics applications. As a demonstration of the power of these components, we report their use as programmable spectral-phase encoders (SPEs) and decoders for wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM)-compatible optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA). Most important for the application here, the high resolution of these ring-resonator circuits makes possible the independent control of the optical phase of the individual tightly spaced frequency lines of a mode-locked laser (MLL). This unique approach allows us to limit the coded signal's spectral bandwidth, thereby allowing for high spectral efficiency (compared to other OCDMA systems) and compatibility with existing WDM systems with a rapidly reconfigurable set of codes. A four-user OCDMA system using polarization multiplexing is shown to operate at data rates of 2.5 Gb/s within a 40-GHz transparent optical window with a bit error rate (BER) better than 10/sup -9/ and a spectral efficiency of 25%.

We demonstrate compact, narrowband and tunable high-order microring resonator filters suitable for RF photonic applications. Sixth order filters having bandwidths of 1.5 GHz, out-of-band optical rejection ratios > 60 dB, and on-chip losses < 2 dB are highlighted

A biosensor application of vertically coupled glass microring resonators with Q similar to 12000 is introduced. Using balanced photodetection, very high signal to noise ratios, and thus high sensitivity to refractive index changes (limit of detection of 1.8 x 10(-5) refractive index units), are achieved. Ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate successful modification of biosensor surfaces. Experimental data obtained separately for a bulk change of refractive index of the medium and for avidin-biotin binding on the ring surface are reported. Excellent repeatability and close-to-complete surface regeneration after binding are experimentally demonstrated.

The authors demonstrate compact 8-bit programmable delay lines having an integrated VOA for output power balancing. Delays from picoseconds to several nanoseconds are feasible on a 1 cm-sq solid state chip. Thermo-optic switches with 45 musec switching are incorporated

A very compact high index contrast PLC dynamic dispersion compensator (DDC) is fabricated and its data transmission performance characterized at 10 GB/s. The DDC is tunable over +/-3000 psec/nm, and operates on 90 50-GHz channels in the C-band simultaneously.

The benefits of a high core/clad index contrast material system will be explained and summarized. Detailed discussion covers some fabricated integrated circuits using this platform in various telecommunication applications. No summary available.

Full C-band tunable filters for 50 GHz channel spacings based on 5th order micro-ring resonator filters are