Abstract
Propagation of terahertz (THz) waves in silicon waveguides is of special interest for THz applications such as optical integrated circuits. In this paper, a photonic crystal-based rib silicon waveguide with a specific structure is designed for the first time which can be utilized for applications in THz region (including wavelength range of 30-35 μm). The dispersion curve and effective index are simulated over 30–35 μm for different rib heights. In addition, the dispersion coefficients up to the third order as well as the nonlinear parameter are calculated at the center wavelength of 33 μm from which the pulse evolution along the waveguide is simulated via solving the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). The split-step Fourier (SSF) method is used to numerically solve the NLSE and then the pulse spectra at the input and output of the waveguide are simulated and compared to each other. Also, the effect of different parameters including rib height, pulse width, chirp and peak power on the THz pulse propagation is investigated. The results show that for lengths less than 1 cm, the pulse propagates almost without distortion, while for longer lengths, the shape and spectrum of the pulse are changed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Data are available on request from the authors.
References
Guerboukha H, Nallappan K, Skorobogatiy M (2018) Toward real-time terahertz imaging. Adv Opt Photon 10(4):843–938
Koos C, Jacome L, Poulton C, Leuthold J, Freude W (2007) Nonlinear silicon-on-insulator waveguides for all-optical signal processing. Opt Express 15(10):5976–5990
Li, S (2015) Silicon-based terahertz waveguides (Doctoral dissertation)
Soref RA, Emelett SJ, Buchwald WR (2006) Silicon waveguided components for the long-wave infrared region. J Opt A Pure Appl Opt 8(10):840–848
Yin L, Lin Q, Agrawal GP (2007) Soliton fission and supercontinuum generation in silicon waveguides. Opt Lett 32(4):391–393
Almeida VR, Xu Q, Barrios CA, Lipson M (2004) Guiding and confining light in void nanostructure. Opt Lett 29(11):1209–1211
Eti N, Mahariq I, Kurt H (2015) Mode analysis and light confinement of optical rib waveguides in various air slot configurations. In 2015 17th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON) (pp. 1-4). IEEE
Kim GR, Jeon TI, Grischkowsky D (2017) 910-m propagation of THz ps pulses through the atmosphere. Opt Express 25(21):25422–25434
McGowan RW, Gallot G, Grischkowsky D (1999) Propagation of ultrawideband short pulses of terahertz radiation through submillimeter-diameter circular waveguides. Opt Lett 24(20):1431–1433
Mendis R, Grischkowsky D (2001) Undistorted guided-wave propagation of subpicosecond terahertz pulses. Opt Lett 26(11):846–848
Lu Y, Wu Q, Zhang Q, Wang R, Zhao W, Zhang D, Xu J (2018) Propagation of THz pulses in rectangular subwavelength dielectric waveguides. J Appl Phys 123(22):223103
Pakarzadeh H, Rezaei SM, Namroodi L (2019) Hollow-core photonic crystal fibers for efficient terahertz transmission. Opt Commun 433:81–88
Pakarzadeh H, Forghani SE, Amiri IS (2019) Propagation of telecommunication pulses in photonics nanowires: a comparative physics study. Results Phys 13:102342
Pakarzadeh H, Delirian Z (2020) Propagation of short pulses in dispersion-engineered silicon nanowires: impact of chirp parameter. Silicon in Press:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00850-2
Palik ED (1985) Handbook of optical constants of solids, vol 1. Academic, New York
Wang Z, Liu H, Huang N, Sun Q, Wen J (2012) Efficient terahertz-wave generation via four-wave mixing in silicon membrane waveguides. Opt Express 20(8):8920–8928
Pakarzadeh H, Rezaei SM (2016) Modeling of dispersion and nonlinear characteristics of tapered photonic crystal fibers for applications in nonlinear optics. J Mod Opt 63(2):151–158
Pakarzadeh H, Hasanpouri F, Hosseinabadi S, Sharif V (2021) Thermally tuned parametric gain in photonic crystal fiber-based amplifiers. Eur Phys J Plus 136(3):1–12
Agrawal GP (2013) Nonlinear fiber optics 5th edn. Academic Press, Oxford
Pakarzadeh H, Delirian Z, Taghizadeh M (2016) Simulation of chirped pulse propagation in silicon nanowires: shape and spectrum analysis. Opt Photonics J 6(08):53–61
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Shahrzad Hosseinabadi and Vahid Sharif from Shiraz University of Technology for their assistance with numerical simulations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, simulation results and analysis were performed by H. Pakarzadeh and F. Akbari. The first draft of the manuscript was written by F. Akbari and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Compliance with ethical standards is followed by authors.
Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interests.
Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals
Not applicable.
Informed Consent
Not applicable.
Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pakarzadeh, H., Akbari, F. Propagation of Terahertz Pulses in Photonic Crystal-Based Rib Silicon Waveguides. Silicon 14, 2931–2940 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-021-01092-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-021-01092-6