Compact and phase-error-robust multilayered AWG-based wavelength selective switch driven by a single LCOS.

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks with reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) realize automatic scheduling and restoration at the wavelength level and are therefore part of the solution to meet increasing bandwidth and routing flexibility requirements for transport networks. The wavelength selective switch (WSS) is the key component in all commercial ROADM systems. Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology dominates current WSS installations as LCoS-based WSS can support Flexgrid technology enabled networks, and high port counts with excellent performance. WSS designs are becoming increasingly specialized for a wide variety of applications. For single WSS used in broadcast and select (B&S) architecture, superior port isolation is key for the desired signal to be filtered from the whole spectrum. While for twin WSS deployed in route and select (R&S) nodes, many features are desired for various network applications. These include multiple common ports, premium ports with superior port isolation, and high port counts. Future WSS may be asked to address a number of different end user applications, and as such there is a demand for combinations of custom spectrum range, compact form factors, increased WSS port count, low cost, thermal and mechanical ruggedization. The first commercially available quad WSS is part of this increasing trend of utilization of WSS throughout network architectures.

Digital Electro-optics Platform is the main concept of Jasper Display Corp. (JDC) to develop various applications. These applications are based on our X-on-Silicon technologies, for example, X-on-Silicon technologies could be used on Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS), Micro Light-Emitting Diode on Silicon (μLEDoS), Organic Light-Emitting Diode on Silicon (OLEDoS), and Cell on Silicon (CELLoS), etc. LCoS technology is applied to Micro Display, Spatial Light Modulator (SLM), Dynamic Optics, Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS), Holographic Display, Microscopy, Bio-tech, 3D Printing and Adaptive Optics, etc. In addition, μLEDoS technology is applied to Augmented Reality (AR), Head Up Display (HUD), Head-mounted Display (HMD), and Wearable Devices.

We characterize the phase-modulation-dependent loss (PMDL) arising from the commercial liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) and find that it severely degrades the fidelity of mode-selective conversion and orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) generation, as well as the performance of LCOS-based wavelength-selective switch (WSS). For the LP11 mode conversion, an offset-launch technique is proposed to mitigate such effect. For the LPl,m (l>1) mode conversion, the superposition of OAMs with conjugation vortices is demonstrated to achieve perfect mode conversion. Experimental outcomes verify that both solutions are able to improve the fidelity quality factor by at least 15dB.

This paper outlines the design, performance and application of a highly-integrated stacked wavelength selective switching (WSS) technology platform based on 4k liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) devices and two-dimensional (2D) beam steering.

In this paper, a method for measuring the liquid refractive index based on liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is presented. The liquid measuring chamber is composed of two optical lenses, an inlet, and an outlet. By filling the liquid with different refractive indices, the liquid measuring chamber has different focal lengths according to geometric optics. As a reflective micro-display device, the LCoS is another key component, in which the liquid crystal (LC) molecules are arranged in a nematic phase. The programming function of the LCoS, based on the interaction of incident light and the LC molecules in the LCoS, enables the LCoS to form as a digital lens. By using the measuring chamber in the optical system and adjusting the focal lengths of the digital lens, which is loaded on the LCoS, the refractive index of the liquid can be calculated accurately when the sensor receives the focused spot. The experimental results verify the feasibility of our proposed method.

Iterative Fourier transform algorithm (IFTA) has been widely applied to achieve holograms in diffractive optical elements, however it is insufficient for designing holograms uploaded on liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) to steer multi-beams in a wavelength selective switch (WSS). In this paper, a three-step hybrid algorithm including IFTA, Symmetrical IFTA with both phase and amplitude freedoms (SIFTA-2) and Genetic algorithm (GA) is developed to optimize the multi-casting hologram and experimentally demonstrated the multi-casting function of WSS. The reconstructed output field not only has max 128 fan-out patterns with flexible power ratio, but also can be adjusted to balance multi-indicators like reconstructed root mean square error (RMSE), diffraction efficiency and crosstalk power by setting flexible weightings of fitness functions in GA.

As fiber-optic systems turn toward multi-band transmission (MBT), exploiting the complete low loss window of optical fibers, novel optical components, able to operate in bands other than the conventional C-band, become necessary. In light of this, we report on a multi-band photonic integrated × wavelength selective switch (WSS) operating in the O, S, C and L-bands. The photonic integrated WSS presented in this work uses a folded arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) as the filtering element, while the wideband operation of the thermo-optic switches allows the routing of the individual channels from those bands to any of the device output ports. The operation of the WSS is experimentally validated for different bands and modulation formats. Results show error-free operation with limited penalty with intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM/DD) non-return-to-zero on-off keying (NRZ-OOK) up to 35 Gb/s in O, S, C and L-bands and up to 169.83 Gb/s with coherent 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) data transmission in the S, C and L-bands.

A new, lower-cost, and 10FPS-attainable lidar scanning system has been developed. The functions of the system include steering the incident laser, correcting the alignments and aberrations, outputting the signal of the misalignment, and laser incident timing. The system incorporates low-cost parts that include a Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS), a spherical mirror with a transparent layer (SMT), a spherical surface meniscus lens, and photosensors. The key component in this system is the SMT, which increases the LCOS scanning area, reduces the aberration, and creates a reference reflection for optical system correction. Beam steering by the optical phased array is accomplished by varying the refractive index of the liquid crystal in the LCOS. Scanning flash lidar is realized by the combination of the LCOS and SMT, which can emit an intensity distribution-corrected conical beam. The SMT reference reflection corrects three types of errors by adjusting the control parameters of the LCOS: misalignment upon lidar fabrication, long-term or temperature-dependent variation of the optical system, and installation error. In addition, the alignment process manhours and investments for a factory are reduced by eliminating the need for mechanical adjustments. The system can realize flash area-varying lidar, which can achieve a field of view of 1.8 rad in the horizontal direction and 0.3 rad in the vertical direction. An arbitrary irradiation area can be designed using optical phased array techniques.

A liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) device exhibiting high diffraction efficiency at a large deflection angle is demonstrated. An LC mixture with a large birefringence (An = 0.25 at λ = 1550 nm) and a large dielectric constant (Aε = 10.4) is developed to obtain the high-phase retardation, more than 4π, at 1550 nm within a relatively low operation voltage of 5.5 V on LCOS. When compared with the conventional modulation method of 2π phase retardation, both grating period and phase retardation are doubled in 4π modulo modulation. Using the high-phase retardation modulation method, the LCOS may achieve high diffraction efficiency more than 56.6% at 4.5° deflection angle of C-band wavelength with an optimized phase retardation profile. The high diffraction efficiency phase modulator shows the great potential application of beam steering for the wavelength selective switch and the holographic display.

Surface-stabilized antiferroelectric liquid crystals (AFLCs) and V-shape smectics share the spontaneous generation of intermediate transmission states, i.e. analogue grayscale. On the other hand, liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) appears to be a promising alternative to thin-film transistors (TFTs) in the preparation of reflective microdisplays and spatial light modulators (SLMs). The feasibility of preparing LCOS SLMs using AFLC and V-shaped LCs has been analyzed. A comparative study of a number of AFLC and V-shape materials as candidates for LCOS SLMs has been carried out. Test cells below 1 µm have been prepared using an ITO-coated transparent glass plate and an aluminized silicon back plate mimicking the actual LCOS device. AFLC waveforms compatible to low-voltage operation of the silicon backplane have been demonstrated. V-shape waveforms have been designed and demonstrated as well. The results show that both LC families may be employed in this specific application. Dynamic behavior, with frame rates over 200 Hz, is especially remarkable.

There is an increasing demand for DWDM systems to support a set of network requirements (span length, total distance, capacity, etc) typically associated with previously distinct network application categories such as access, metro, regional, and long haul. This has led to the development of a multi-haul DWDM system, defined as an agile optical platform, able to combine multiple versions of transponders, amplifiers, and optical add/drop multiplexers (OADM) on the same optical link. The concept of a multi-haul system is applied in a study of DWDM networks that can employ, besides fixed OADM, two types of reconfigurable OADM (ROADM): a two-degree ROADM based on arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWG) and a multi-degree ROADM built with 5x1 wavelength-selective switches (WSS). A cost analysis on a network example calculates the savings obtained if an optimum mix of ROADMs is used on the same DWDM ring instead of deploying one single OADM type at all nodes. A technical feasibility study is performed to validate the performance of a DWDM system with up to 16 ROADMs in a network. To this purpose, OSNR penalties are experimentally determined for AWG and WSS ROADMs due to cascaded bandwidth narrowing, and crosstalk effects, with wavelength detuning values corresponding to locked and unlocked lasers.

A multichannel optical wavelength selective switch is investigated, which can switch signals at arbitrary wavelengths between multichannels in wavelength division multiplexing systems. It is based on the combination of an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer and an array of optical space-division switches. A monolithically integrated 2/spl times/2 optical wavelength selective switch is successfully fabricated for four multiplexed signals in the 1.55 /spl mu/m wavelength region. Here, an AWG and four 2/spl times/2 thermooptic switches are laid out on a 30/spl times/60 mm/sup 2/ chip. Wavelength selective switching operations for four wavelength signals between two lines are demonstrated in a time slot of 40 ms with a switching speed of 1 ms.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems are nowadays frequently used in many fields of industry. The number of their applications increases and their functions become more responsible, therefore precise knowledge about their properties is necessary. Due to its fragility and small sizes non-contact and high sensitive measurement method is required. Two-beam laser interferometry is one of the most popular testing methods of microelements. Such method implemented in Twyman-Green interferometer allows for full-field shape determination and out-of-plane displacement measurement. However the elements under test may bring additional challenges: their surfaces may have complicated shape or large shape gradients which prohibit their testing by means of interferometer with a flat reference mirror. To overcome such problems we propose to use LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) - phase, reflective SLM as an active reference element. LCOS serves as an adaptive reference mirror and phase shifter. The use of such element allows increasing measurement range of the interferometer and simplifies out-of-plane displacement measurement through object wavefront compensation. The applicability of the modified Twyman-Green interferometer will be shown at the examples of active micromembranes testing.

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) devices have been widely applied in optical beam steering. Increasing demands for advanced applications are driving LCoS technology toward larger deflection angles and higher diffraction efficiency, while these two performance metrics are difficult to achieve simultaneously due to the fringe-field effect. To address this issue, we have trained a neural network to achieve precise compensation for the fringe-field effect and have experimentally validated the approach using a commercial LCoS device. The results demonstrate that this method achieves an efficiency over 37.8% with a continuous diffraction angle up to 10 ∘ @ 1550 nm, representing the largest deflection angle and highest efficiency yet reported for LCoS devices. This work paves the way for the practical application of LCoS in fields such as LiDAR, holography, and optical switches.

The wavefront reconstruction with interaction matrix composed of high-order Zernike polynomials as basis may be unintendedly less accurate when the wavefront manipulator of huge number of elements such as Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirrors and Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) is used. One of the reasons of the lack of the accuracy in reconstruction comes from the mismatch between the rectangular elements of the LCOS in the orthogonal arrangement and the projected patterns obtained by the Zernike polynomials defined in the polar coordinates. To improve the accuracy of the wavefront reconstruction by the LCOS, the use of the random phase patterns is proposed with presumption to be appropriate for the orthogonally arranged high number of elements. The residual fitting errors of reconstructed wavefront are evaluated by numerical simulation to show the potential of the use of the random phase patterns instead of the use of the Zernike polynomials. It is found by the Monte-Carlo simulation of the Kolmogorov model that the more random phase patterns one uses, the more accurate one achieves to reconstruct the wavefront compared to the use of the Zernike patterns. Additionally, the comparison of the Strehl ratio of the AO system obtained with the Zernike patterns and that of the random patterns is performed.