2005 Volume 2 Issue 16 Pages 440-445
Stimulated Raman scattering in silicon waveguides are attractive for optical amplification/lasing due to high Raman coefficient and high optical pump intensity in the small waveguide core. In this paper, we investigate the effect of two-photon absorption and free-carrier absorption for continuous-wave light propagation in submicron size silicon wire waveguides. We also show that if the waveguide lengths and pump powers are optimized, the net continuous-wave Raman gain and thus lasing activities in such waveguides without any additional free carrier extraction schemes is possible.