Self-Configuring and Reconfigurable Silicon Photonic Signal Processor
Hailong Zhou, Yuhe Zhao, Xu Wang, Dingshan Gao, Jianji Dong, Xinliang Zhang · ACS Photonics · 2020
Photonic signal processing is essential in the optical communication and optical computing. Numerous photonic signal processors have been proposed, but most of them exhibit limited reconfigurability and automaticity. A feature of fully automatic implementation and intelligent response is highly desirable for the multipurpose photonic signal processors. Here, a self-configuring and fully reconfigurable silicon photonic signal processor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed photonic signal processor is capable of performing various functions, including multichannel optical switching, optical multiple-input-multiple-output descrambler, and tunable optical filter. All the functions are achieved by complete self-configuration without knowing the inner structure. Our demonstration suggests great potential for chip-scale fully programmable optical signal processing with the self-configuring ability.