Nonlinearity of optimized silicon photonic slot waveguides

In this numerical study, we show that by exploiting the advantages of the horizontal silicon slot waveguide structure the nonlinear interaction can be significantly increased compared to vertical slot waveguides. The deposition of a 20 nm thin optically nonlinear layer with low refractive index sandwiched between two silicon wires of 220 nm width and 205 nm height could enable a nonlinearity coefficient gamma of more than 2x10(7) W-1 km(-1). (C) 2009 Optical Society of America