Microwave photonic applications in the terahertz (THz) region of the spectrum are attracting increasing attention due to the need to find solutions for next-generation (5G/6G) wireless communication systems capable of handling unprecedented data rates. It is crucial to develop millimeter-wave (mm-wave) (30-300GHz) fiber supported transport networks. One of the key questions is, which carrier frequency generation technique will be the most suitable for THz signals above 300 GHz; electronics-based or photonics-based. Since the backbone of the wireless networks is composed by very high-capacity fibre optic cables, the microwave photonic approach has the ultimate advantage of seamless integration with existing optical fibre networks. Although the cost effectiveness is still an open question, simplistic base station architecture with simplified antenna units and high optical component reuse is necessary for enabling a compatible mobile network backhaul. For THz applications a broadband electro-optic modulator (EOM) with a frequency response extending to the sub-terahertz range, high power handling, and very low nonlinear distortions, is required. The objective of this thesis is to study the feasibility of photonic integration and, proof of concept implementations with the effective use of optical components with reduced energy consumption, reduced footprint and offer speed beyond all-electronic implementations.
The first study presents a coherent electro-optic photonic integrated circuit deploying generalized Mach-Zehnder interferometer (GMZI) substituting N×1 combiner by an optical N×N discrete Fourier transform (DFT) in order to generate a regularly spaced frequency comb. The proposed design comprises of 1×N splitter that feeds light into a parallel array of N electro-optic phase modulators electrically driven by RF signal with a progressive phase shift with their phase modulated optical outputs processed by an N×N optical DFT. A pragmatic design approach and analytical formulation for implementing MMI based optical DFT in photonic networks composed of waveguide splitters, combiners, and phase-shift elements with necessary circuit diagram for even and odd dimensions are presented.
Recently, there has been impressive progress toward ultra-wide band low voltage EOM. The heterogeneous approach of utilizing silicon nitride on lithium niobate waveguide integrated on a single chip is demonstrated for the best optical modulation performance that opens a wide range of opportunities for universal linear optical networks, chip-scale MWP systems, ultra-speed switching of optical communications. Finally, the third study de-scribes the architecture for compact on-chip spectrometry targeting high resolution across the entire C-band to measure the spectral profile of WDM signals reliably and accurately in fixed and flex-grid architectures. The design architecture of technologically viable com-pact on-chip high-resolution wideband spectrometer such as Mach-Zehnder delay interferometers (MZDI), 2×2 directional couplers and multimode interference couplers is presented and verified by software simulation using an industry standard tool. The components simulations that supported the assessment of the feasibility of a spectrometer compliant with the specification made use of the LioniX asymmetric double strip (ADS) waveguide and the low-cost photolithography.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/43731 |
| Date | 24 June 2022 |
| Creators | Jahid, Abu |
| Contributors | Hall, Trevor |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ |
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