Wavelength conversion in GaAs micro-ring resonators

Tightly confined, low-loss waveguides in highly nonlinear materials permit nonlinear optical interactions to occur over much shorter distances than do fibers. The nonlinear interactions are further enhanced in resonators. Bot h theory and experiment of enhanced four-wave mixing in micro-ring resonato rs are presented that can be used for many applications. A conversion effic iency of 14% achievable with only 10-mW peak pump power is predicted under realizable conditions. The experiment, the first one to the authors' knowle dge in nonlinear optics performed in micro-rings, shows, even in a lossy Ga As/AlGaAs ring, a 26-dB improvement in the conversion efficiency compared w ith that of an equivalent straight waveguide, in agreement with theory. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes: 130.3120, 130.4310, 230.5750, 230.4320, 190.2620.