New structure of silica-based planar lightwave circuits for low-power thermooptic switch and its application to 8 × 8 optical matrix switch

Author

Kasahara, Ryoichi ; Yanagisawa, Masahiro ; Goh, Takashi ; Sugita, Akio ; Himeno, Akira ; Yasu, Mitsuho ; Matsui, Shinsuke

Author_Institution

NTT Photonics Labs., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

20

Issue

6

fYear

2002

fDate

6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

993

Lastpage

1000

Abstract

We propose a novel structure that reduces the switching power of a silica-based thermooptic switch (TOSW). The structure consists of silicon trenches and heat insulating grooves, which are formed beneath and beside the arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, respectively. We optimize the structure using the differential-element method (DEM) and fabricate a 2 × 2 TOSW with a switching power of only 90 mW, namely, 75% less than that of a conventional TOSW. We also obtain an insertion loss of about 1 dB and an extinction ratio of over 30 dB with a response time from 0% to 90% of 4.9 ms. We then use the structure to fabricate an 8 × 8 matrix switch and confirm a total power consumption of 1.4 W with an average insertion loss of 7.4 dB and an extinction ratio of 50.4 dB for 64 possible optical paths

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; integrated optoelectronics; optical communication equipment; optical losses; optical planar waveguides; optical switches; silicon compounds; thermo-optical effects; 1.4 W; 8 × 8 optical matrix switch; 90 mW; Mach-Zehnder interferometer; average insertion loss; differential-element method; extinction ratio; heat insulating grooves; insertion loss; low-power thermooptic switch; matrix switch; optical paths; response time; silica-based planar lightwave circuits; silica-based thermooptic switch; silicon trenches; switching power; total power consumption; Arm; Circuits; Delay; Extinction ratio; Insertion loss; Insulation; Optimization methods; Silicon; Switches; Transmission line matrix methods;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2002.1018811

Filename

1018811