Silicon-based nonlinear optical signal processing

This Spotlight reviews the recent progress in chip-scale optical signal processing based on silicon photonics platforms. Topics include wavelength conversion and signal regeneration based on degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in a silicon waveguide; two types of wavelength conversion via amplitude modulation; four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) signal regeneration; high-speed optical binary logic and high-base computing; and hybrid computing functions. The book describes how to implement an optical data exchange based on the parametric depletion effect of a non-degenerate FWM process. The role of resonant structures and graphene in silicon waveguide devices to enhance nonlinear interactions is also discussed.