Demonstration of optical nonlinearity in InGaAsP/InP passive waveguides

We report on the study of the third-order nonlinear optical interactions in InxGa1-xAsyP1-y/InP strip-loaded waveguides. The material composition and waveguide structures were optimized for enhanced nonlinear optical interactions. We performed self-phase modulation, four-wave mixing and nonlinear absorption measurements at the pump wavelength 1568 nm in our waveguides. The nonlinear phase shift of up to 2.5π has been observed in self-phase modulation experiments. The measured value of the two-photon absorption coefficient α2 was 19 cm/GW. The four-wave mixing conversion range, representing the wavelength difference between maximally separated signal and idler spectral components, was observed to be 45 nm. Our results indicate that InGaAsP has a high potential as a material platform for nonlinear photonic devices, provided that the operation wavelength range outside the two-photon absorption window is selected.