Programmable SCOW mesh silicon photonic processor for linear unitary operator

Abstract

Universal unitary multiport interferometers (UMIs) can perform any arbitrary unitary transformation to a vector of input optical modes, which are essential for a wide range of applications. Most UMIs are realized by fixed photonic circuits with a triangular or a rectangular architecture. Here, we present the implementation of an N × N rectangular UMI with a programmable photonic processor based on two-dimensional meshes of self-coupled optical waveguide (SCOW) resonant structures. Our architecture shows a high tolerance to the unbalanced loss upon interference. This work enriches the functionality of the SCOW mesh photonic processors, which are promising for field-programmable photonic arrays.