Hybrid integration of a SESAM with a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit

Abstract

The realization of high-performance femtosecond lasers on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) requires robust, low-loss coupling between a saturable absorber and a photonic waveguide. In this work, we demonstrate the hybrid integration of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) with a silicon nitride (SiN) PIC by micro-assembly. This micro-assembly strategy transfers the non-linear functionality of the absorber onto the PIC. We characterize the linear and non-linear performance of an unbonded SESAM and of a SESAM bonded to inverse-tapered SiN waveguides. At 1560~nm, the bonded device shows a waveguide-coupled modulation depth of 5.2\%, a maximum reflectivity of 37.2\%, and a saturation fluence of 47~\textmu J/cm². This work demonstrates that SESAMs can be integrated directly onto silicon nitride-based PIC platforms and provides a pathway towards fully integrated, self-starting, chip-scale ultrafast lasers.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{verstraete2026hybrid,
  title = {{Hybrid integration of a SESAM with a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit}},
  author = {Amaryllis Verstraete and Tom Reep and Jan de Haan and Eero Koivusalo and Riku Isoaho and Thi Ngoc Lam Tran and Bart Kuyken and Kasper Van Gasse},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.08057},
  eprint = {2611.08057},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08057},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Hybrid integration of a SESAM with a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit
AU  - Amaryllis Verstraete
AU  - Tom Reep
AU  - Jan de Haan
AU  - Eero Koivusalo
AU  - Riku Isoaho
AU  - Thi Ngoc Lam Tran
AU  - Bart Kuyken
AU  - Kasper Van Gasse
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.08057
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08057
AB  - The realization of high-performance femtosecond lasers on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) requires robust, low-loss coupling between a saturable absorber and a photonic waveguide. In this work, we demonstrate the hybrid integration of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) with a silicon nitride (SiN) PIC by micro-assembly. This micro-assembly strategy transfers the non-linear functionality of the absorber onto the PIC. We characterize the linear and non-linear performance of an unbonded SESAM and of a SESAM bonded to inverse-tapered SiN waveguides. At 1560~nm, the bonded device shows a waveguide-coupled modulation depth of 5.2\%, a maximum reflectivity of 37.2\%, and a saturation fluence of 47~\textmu J/cm^2. This work demonstrates that SESAMs can be integrated directly onto silicon nitride-based PIC platforms and provides a pathway towards fully integrated, self-starting, chip-scale ultrafast lasers.
ER  -

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