Chip-integrated all-optical 4-bit Gray code generation based on silicon microring resonators.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a 4-port passive encoder for 4-bit Gray code on pure silicon platform. The operation principle for this device is the thermo-optic (TO) effect in silicon microring resonator (MRR) whose transmission spectrum could be shifted by injecting strong light power. Therefore, the output powers of both the through-port and drop-port of the MRR could be controllable and switchable. Two threshold powers are defined to decide the port output code of bit "0" or "1". By combining two independent resonant wavelengths of two MRRs and adjusting their powers in a certain order, all-optical 4-bit Gray code generation has been successfully demonstrated. The proposed integrated device is competent in on-chip all-optical communication and optical interconnection systems with significant advantages, such as simple operation, compact size, economical fabrication process and great scalability.