Boosting all-optical wavelength conversion efficiency using an AlGaAs-on-insulator Fabry-Perot microresonator without data rate limits

Journal article, 2025

Four-wave-mixing (FWM) based wavelength conversion offers a versatile solution for flexible optical networks. Significant research has focused on developing new materials and structures to enhance FWM performance. However, high-efficiency waveguide-based wavelength converters typically require either long interaction lengths or high pump power, which in turn limits their phase-matching bandwidth and complicates integration with on-chip lasers. Although microring resonator-based wavelength converters can substantially improve conversion efficiency (CE), they suffer from reduced signal bandwidth due to the resonance filtering effect. In this work, we propose a Fabry-Perot Bragg grating cavity-based singly resonant FWM scheme to enhance CE without compromising the signal bandwidth. In this configuration, only the pump light is resonantly enhanced within the cavity, while the signal and idler light undergo a single pass. We achieve CE enhancements of 16.7 dB in such a cavity compared to a waveguide with the same length on the AlGaAs-on-insulator platform with a phase-matching bandwidth exceeding 200 nm. We also demonstrate a continuously tunable wavelength conversion system, showcasing its potential to support high signal data rates. Our approach provides a promising pathway for on-chip laser-driven nonlinear signal processing, enabling efficient high-speed wavelength conversion and applications where both high CE and data rate are crucial.