Compact and low power operation optical switch using silicon-germanium/silicon hetero-structure waveguide
- 3 April 2012
- journal article
- Published by Optica Publishing Group in Optics Express
- Vol. 20 (8), 8949-8958
- https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.20.008949
Abstract
We proposed a silicon-based optical switch with a carrier-plasma-induced phase shifter which employs a silicon-germanium (SiGe) / silicon (Si) hetero-structure in the waveguide core. A type-I hetero-interface formed by SiGe and Si is expected to confine carriers effectively in the SiGe waveguide core. The fabricated Mach-Zehnder optical switch shows a low switching power of only 1.53 mW with a compact phase shifter length of 250 μm. The switching time of the optical switch is less than 4.6 ns for the case of a square waveform driving condition, and 1 ns for the case of a pre-emphasis electric driving condition. These results show that our proposed SiGe/Si waveguide structure holds promise for active devices with compact size and low operation power.Keywords
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