On-chip broadband non-reciprocal light storage

Abstract: Breaking the symmetry between forward and backward propagating optical modes is of fundamental scientific interest and enables crucial functionalities, such as isolators, circulators, and duplex communication systems. Whereas there has been progress in achieving optical isolation on-chip, integrated broadband non-reciprocal signal processing functionalities that enable transmitting and receiving via the same low-loss planar waveguide, without altering the frequency or mode of the signal, remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate a non-reciprocal delay scheme based on the uni-directional transfer of optical data pulses to acoustic waves in a chip-based integration platform. We experimentally demonstrate that this scheme is not impacted by simultaneously counter-propagating optical signals. Furthermore, we achieve a bandwidth more than an order of magnitude broader than the intrinsic opto-acoustic linewidth, linear operation for a wide range of signal powers, and importantly, show that this scheme is wavelength preserving and avoids complicated multi-mode structures..