Tunable optical buffer through an analogue to electromagnetically induced transparency in coupled photonic crystal cavities

Abstract

Tunable on-chip optical delay has long been a key target for the research community, as it is the enabling technology behind delay lines, signal retiming and other applications vital to optical signal processing. To date, the field has been limited by high optical losses associated with slow light or delay structures. Here, we present a novel tunable delay line, based on a coupled cavity system exhibiting an electromagnetically induced transparency-like transmission spectrum, with record low loss, around 15 dB/ns. By tuning a single cavity, the delay of the complete structure can be tuned over 120 ps, with the maximum delay approaching 300 ps.