Title :
Total Internal Reflection Optical Switch in SOI With Defect Engineered Barrier Region
Author :
Thomson, David J. ; Reed, Graham T. ; Knights, Andy P. ; Yang, Pengyuan Y. ; Gardes, Frederic Y. ; Smith, Andy J. ; Litvinenko, Konstantin L.
Author_Institution :
Adv. Technol. Inst., Univ. of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Abstract :
Total internal reflection optical switches offer a switching operation which can be wavelength insensitive, thermally stable and polarisation independent. The implementation of such a switch based upon carrier injection in silicon is difficult due to the long diffusion lengths of injected free carriers. In this paper experimental results are presented which show that a reflective type switching operation is obtainable if a barrier formed of defective silicon is used to reduce free carrier diffusion.
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; optical switches; silicon; silicon-on-insulator; SOI; Si; carrier injection; defect engineered barrier region; free carrier diffusion; free carriers; reflective type switching; silicon-on-insulator; total internal reflection optical switch; wavelength insensitive; Carrier confinement; Measurement; Optical reflection; Optical switches; Photonics; Plasma temperature; Refractive index; Silicon; Switching circuits; Temperature sensors; Carrier confinement; defect engineering; optical switch; silicon photonics; total internal reflection;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JLT.2010.2053914
