Silicon nanocrystal slab optical waveguide by multi-energy ion implantation: linear and nonlinear optical properties

Silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) have gained attention in optics and photonics research areas in recent years due to their advanced optical nonlinear properties. However, a nonlinear integrated optical platform that allows the fabrication of photonic devices with different Si-nc composition is yet under investigation. In this work, we experimentally demonstrated a nonlinear optical waveguide based on ion implantation that offers advantages in terms of material composition, low propagation losses, and enhanced nonlinear optical properties, such as a high nonlinear refractive index. In this work we present the fabrication of Si-nc containing waveguiding structures, and a study of their linear and nonlinear optical properties. Our nonlinear integrated optical platform presents a two-photon absorption coefficient β = 3.17x10-6 cm·W-1 and a nonlinear refractive index n2 = 1.19x10-10 cm2·W-1, which shows potential applications in all-optical signal processing devices, such as single-photon sources.