High conversion efficiency femtosecond optical parametric amplifier based on silicon waveguide in mid-infrared

The mid-infrared femtosecond optical parametric amplifier (OPA) in silicon waveguide is proposed and investigated numerically. Through appropriately engineering the waveguide dimensions, the zero-dispersion wavelength of the silicon waveguide can be tailored to 2.1 mu m and the broadband phase-matching can be realized. We achieve a conversion efficiency of -40 dB and a conversion bandwidth of over 300 nm for a low pump peak power in 8-mm-long silicon waveguide. We also analyze the evolution of the pump, signal and idler pulses in the process of optical parametric amplification. The proposed OPA exhibits compact configuration and can find important applications in integrated broadband optical source and ultrafast all-optical signal processing in mid-infrared. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.