Highly integrated 3 X 3 silicon thermo-optical switch using a single combined phase shifter for optical interconnects

摘要

We report on an experimental 3 X 3 thermo-optical switch on silicon on insulator. By controlling a single combined phase shifter, light from any input waveguide can be directed to any output waveguide, showing a simple control method and highly integrated structure as compared to the conventional multiway optical switches. Furthermore, the proposed optical switch can be generalized to be a 1 X N and N X N optical switch without an extra phase shifter. The switch is fabricated by complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. By experiment, full 3 X 3 switching functionality is demonstrated at a wavelength of 1.55 (mu)m, with an average cross talk of -11.1 dB and a power consumption of 97.5 mW.