Design, simulation and fabrication of nano-scale silicon-on-insulator (SOI) integrated photonic phased array switch elements (IPPAS) utilizing nano electromechanical systems (NEMS)

摘要

The goal of this research is to introduce the design and simulation of a novel 2×2 SOI integrated photonic phased array switch. Under-etched NEMS-operated slot waveguides are used as the active phase shifters offering the benefits of compact size and low power consumption. The design of the NEMS-operated phase shifter has been validated by numerical analysis and simulation. The finite difference mode three-dimensional full-vectorial solver of FIMMPROP is used for the simulation. The designed NEMS-operated phase shift element is only 349 μm in length, exhibits an excess loss of about 1.1 dB and provides a phase shift of 180°. Straight transition slot waveguide couplers with high efficiency of about 96.7% have been designed to couple the NEMS-operated phase shifters to standard unslotted waveguides. The 2×2 MMI (multimode interference) couplers used in the switch element feature a compact size of 4 μm × 61.2 μm, have a small excess loss of about 0.155 dB and minimal imbalance of about -0.004 dB. The NEMS-operated phase shifters are located on the sides of the switch with their outermost electrode bond pads. Optical interferogram response is utilized for the testing of the designed phase shifters.