Optical Micro-Ring Resonators
Prof. Ping-Tong Ho
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| Dr. Ping-Tong Ho |
Prof. P.-T. Ho is currently working on optical micro-ring resonators. First proposed in 1969 as a simple filter, the optical micro-ring resonator has been recognized recently to be a versatile device capable of performing all communication and signal processing functions in an integrated platform, due to its unique characteristics of small device size and small model area of the waveguides that comprise the rings. Their small dimensions place them in a very interesting operational parameter range: wide bandwidth yet high finesse. These properties are particularly attractive for nonlinear optical applications. The high finesse means high stored intensities in the rings as in any resonator, which is further enhanced by the small model area, yet the bandwidth is not sacrificed because of the small dimensions and therefore short transit times.
Prof. Ho's team has successfully fabricated many micro-ring devices in semiconductors and polymers: filters, notch filters, loaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers, MUX/DEMUX; frequency converters, all-optical switches, time-division multiplexer/demultiplexers with spatial routing, tunable filters, and all-optical logic gates.
A list of related publications can be found at www.ece.umd.edu/research/microphotonics.
This research is sponsored by the Department of Defense under the technical direction of Dr. K. Ritter and Dr. W. Herman. Current participants in the research include Dr. W. Herman, Mr. T. Ding, Mr. K. Amarnath, Mr. L.-C. Kuo, and Mr. W.-Y. Chen.
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