Integrated Waveguide Optical Isolators

The primary objective of this program is to develop a compact, low cost, waveguide optical isolator that can be readily integrated with a large range of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technologies including semiconductors, glass and polymers operating between 830nm and 1500nm wavelengths. The developed isolator technology must achieve high isolation (> 30 dB) while at the same time achieve low insertion loss (< 3 dB). There were a number of major accomplishments in Phase I including (1) developed a high sensitivity Verdet constant measurement system; (2) developed polymer/magnetite nanoparticle composites (PMNC) exhibiting Verdet constants > 106„a/T-m; (3) designed a polarization independent waveguide based optical isolator and demonstrated operation of all subcomponent waveguide elements; (4) initial demonstration of waveguide Faraday rotation (2„a). In Phase II the principal tasks will include optimizing the design of the waveguide isolator, further development of PMNC¡¦s with a target Verdet constant of 5 x 106„a/T-m, further evaluation of the in situ polarization control technique, deposition of thin film magnets; fabrication, evaluation and delivery of integrated isolator prototypes; evaluation of hybrid integration potential with key PIC platforms, and identification of a DARPA and commercial launch customer.