Effects of coupling and phase imperfections in programmable photonic hexagonal waveguide meshes

We present a study of the effect of imperfections on the transmission and crosstalk in programmable photonic meshes with feedback loops consisting of tunable couplers and phase shifters. The many elements in such a mesh can generate a multitude of parasitic paths when the couplers and phase shifters deviate even slightly from their nominal value. Performing Monte Carlo simulations, we show that small stochastic imperfections in the phase and coupling (<1.0%) can introduce unwanted interferences and resonances and significantly deteriorate the frequency response of the circuit. We also demonstrate that, in the presence of imperfections, the programming strategy of the unused couplers can reduce effects of such parasitics. (C) 2020 Chinese Laser Press