Dissertation Title:
“THIRD-ORDER OPTICAL NONLINEARITIES FOR INTEGRATED MICROWAVE PHOTONICS APPLICATIONS”
Abstract:
The field of integrated photonics aims at compressing large and environmentally-sensitive optical systems to micron-sized circuits that can be mass-produced through existing semiconductor fabrication facilities. The integration of optical components on single chips is pivotal to the realization of miniature systems with high degree of complexity. Such novel photonic chips find abundant applications in optical communication, spectroscopy and signal processing. This work concentrates on harnessing nonlinear phenomena to this avail.
The first part of this dissertation discusses, both from component and system level, the development of a frequency comb source with a semiconductor mode-locked laser at its heart. New nonlinear devices for supercontinuum and second-harmonic generations are developed and their performance is assessed inside the system. Theoretical analysis of a hybrid approach with synchronously-pumped Kerr cavity is also provided. The second part of the dissertation investigates stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in integrated photonics. A fully-tensorial open-source numerical tool is developed to study SBS in optical waveguides composed of crystalline materials, particularly silicon. SBS is demonstrated in an all-silicon optical platform.
Major: Optics and Photonics
Educational Career:
BA: 2013, Experimental and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
MS: 2014, Experimental and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
Committee in Charge:
Dr. Sasan Fathpour (Chair)
Dr. Peter Delfyett
Dr. Demetrios Christodoulides
Dr. Arkadiy Lyakh
Approved for distribution by Dr. Sasan Fathpour, Committee Chair, on May 22, 2019.
The public is welcome to attend.
Read More