Ultralow-VπL Silicon Electro-Optic Directional Coupler Switch With a Liquid Crystal Cladding
- 14 July 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters
- Vol. 33 (15), 796-799
- https://doi.org/10.1109/lpt.2021.3097202
Abstract
An ultralow- $\text{V}_{\pi }\text{L}$ photonic switch device is demonstrated utilizing the high optical and electrical field confinement in silicon slot waveguides coupled with the strong electro-optic response of nematic liquid crystals. A silicon photonic directional coupler switch with a modulation efficiency of 0.0195 $\text{V}\cdot $ mm and a loss-efficiency product of 0.0624 $\text{V}\cdot $ dB is achieved. The 1.5 mm long device is based on two-mode interference within a single slot waveguide resulting in a $\text{V}_{\mathrm {\pi }}$ of 0.013 V and an extinction ratio of $\sim ~9$ dB at 1550 nm wavelength. The power consumption of the photonic switch is estimated to be below 0.6 nW and it possesses a response time of < 1.5 ms. A comparative performance study between the directional coupler switch and a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) switch is performed. The directional coupler switch is projected to have a smaller footprint and lower optical loss compared to a similar design MZI switch making it a strong candidate for switch matrix designs and applications.
Keywords
Funding Information
- Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-12027)
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