Design of all-optical switches based on carrier injection in Si/SiO/sub 2/ split-ridge waveguides (SRWs)

Author

Gan, Fuwan ; Grawert, Felix Jan ; Schley, Jan-Malte ; Akiyama, Shoji ; Michel, Jürgen ; Wada, Kazumi ; Kimerling, Lionel C. ; Kärtner, Franz X.

Author_Institution

Massachusetts Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA

Volume

24

Issue

9

fYear

2006

Firstpage

3454

Lastpage

3463

Abstract

All-optical switches based on optical carrier injection in high-index-contrast Si/SiO₂ split-ridge-waveguide (SRW) couplers are analyzed. The waveguide devices are suitable for the construction of low-loss optical switch matrices as well as fast optical switching. These devices exhibit robustness against fabrication tolerances, improved heat sinking, good carrier confinement, and high uniformity in transmission over the entire C-band of optical communications, in contrast to comparable devices based on buried or ridge waveguides. Reasonably low electrical switching power of 1-10 mW is predicted for switching frequencies of 1 MHz to 1 GHz. Carrier recombination measurements in thin Si layers passivated with different oxide layers confirm the feasibility of the designed switches and modulators

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; optical couplers; optical design techniques; optical switches; optical waveguides; passivation; ridge waveguides; silicon; silicon compounds; 1 MHz to 1 GHz; 1 to 10 mW; Si-SiO₂; all-optical switch design; carrier injection; carrier recombination; passivation; split-ridge waveguide couplers; Carrier confinement; Communication switching; Couplers; Heat sinks; Optical device fabrication; Optical devices; Optical switches; Optical waveguides; Robustness; Transmission line matrix methods; All-optical switching; broadband coupler; carrier injection; split-ridge waveguide (SRW);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2006.880157

Filename

1688137