Magneto-Optical Effects in Optical Communications: Active Manipulation of Nanophotonic Devices

Abstract

Inspired by the effervescent research activity on the use of magneto-optical (MO) effects for the active manipulation of nanophotonic devices, we hypothesize that controlling light with these phenomena could be a game changer in the development of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). This thesis begins by reviewing the resonant en hancement of the transverse MO Kerr effect (TMOKE) in all-dielectric and magneto-plasmonic waveguides. Although the resonant characteristics of these last nanostructures have different physical principles, we numerically demonstrate the global condition that both must meet to obtain optimized TMOKE values (close to their maximum theoretical values). With knowledge from the first part, we then investigated MO ef fects on a micro-ring resonator (MRR) side-coupled to two waveguides. Throughout this latter study, we demonstrated a new concept for dynamic tuning of add/drop channels with applications in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). Finally, though there is a trend to develop new wirelessly connected PICs for improved power efficiency and higher data rates, developments are hampered by a lack of mechanisms for active manipulation of the beam steering. In this thesis, we analytically and nu merically demonstrate an unprecedented way to manipulate the radiated beam from a single nanoantenna. Our concept is illustrated using three a single nanoantenna. Our concept is illustrated using three different conventional nanoantenna designs, namely horn-like slot nanoantenna, half-wave dipole nanoantenna, and Yagi-Uda nanoantenna, which can be manufactured with currently available fabrication mechanisms. conventional nanoantenna designs, namely horn-like slot nanoantenna, half-wave dipole nanoan tenna, and Yagi-Uda nanoantenna, which can be manufactured with currently available fabrication mechanisms.