Power-Attenuated Optimization for Four-Wave Mixing-Based Wavelength Conversion in Silicon Nanowire Waveguides

Abstract

Four-wave mixing (FWM)-based wavelength conversion in silicon nanowire waveguides are numerically investigated by considering the power-attenuated phase-matched condition due to the linear loss and the nonlinear loss caused by two-photon absorption and free carrier absorption effects. The power-attenuated FWM is theoretically analyzed, and the influences of the linear and nonlinear losses on the wavelength conversion performance are evaluated. After analyzing the dependence of the conversion efficiency and bandwidth on the waveguide length and incident pump power, the global optimized solution is achieved by considering the conversion efficiency and bandwidth simultaneously. The optimization result is demonstrated to be tightly related to the linear and nonlinear losses in the silicon nanowire waveguides.