Integrated thermal stabilization of a microring resonator

US9831360B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• McMaster University · CA
• The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · US

Inventors

• Andrew Peter Knights · Hamilton, CA
• Dylan Logan · Ottawa, CA
• Kishore Padmaraju · New York, US
• Keren Bergman · Princeton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 9, 2013
• Grant date: Nov 28, 2017
• Expiry date: Mar 14, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02F2203/15
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide devices and methods involving the thermal stabilization of microring resonators, such as microring modulators. Power is measured via an on-chip photodetector integrated with a drop port of the microring resonator, providing a local measurement of average power. This average power is employed as a feedback measure to actively control a heater that is integrated with the microring resonator, in order to stabilize the resonant wavelength of the microring resonator in the presence of thermal fluctuations. Employing such a system, a microring modulator can maintain error-free performance under thermal fluctuations that would normally render it inoperable.