Silicon microspheres for near-IR communication applications.

We have performed transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarized elastic light scattering calculations at 90deg and 0deg in the o-band at 1.3 um for a 15 um radius silicon microsphere with a refractive index of 3.5. The quality factors are on the order of 107 and the mode/channel spacing is 7 nm, which correlate well with the refractive index and the optical size of the microsphere. The 90deg elastic light scattering can be used to monitor a dropped channel (drop port), whereas the 0deg elastic scattering can be used to monitor the transmission channel (through port). The optical resonances of the silicon microspheres provide the necessary narrow linewidths that are needed for high-resolution optical communication applications. Potential telecommunication applications include filters, modulators, switches, wavelength converters, detectors, amplifiers and light sources. Silicon microspheres show promise as potential building blocks for silicon-based electrophotonic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]