Performance Analysis of Variable Optical Attenuator on Different Materials

摘要

In this paper Ridge, S-bend waveguide design and analysis has been performed for C-band using various materials like Silica (SiO2), Silicon Nitride (Si3N4), Barium Fluoride (BaF2) and Titanium Dioxide (TiO2). We have performed a comparative study and identified Si3N4 as the most suitable material for silicon photonics platform based on lower insertion and propagation losses. Si3N4 based ridge waveguide reduces insertion loss to 5.68dB and propagation loss to less than 1dB/cm. These designed waveguides will be used in variable optical attenuator. Here in this paper, we also propose a variable optical attenuator based on the configurations of a Si3N4 -BaF2 and TiO2-Si3N4 S-bend waveguides. The thermo-optic characteristics of Si3N4 and BaF2 materials are fully utilized for making variable optical attenuator (VOA). After performing software simulation, simulation results are verified with theoretical results. We get Optical attenuation of 1 to 50 dB with an applied electrical voltage of 0 to 20 V for length of 100 um device with low insertion loss.