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Design of a 2 × 4 Hybrid MMI-MZI Configuration with MMI Phase-Shifters Niraula, Boris B.; Rizal, Conrad

Abstract

This paper reports design of a 2 × 4 hybrid multimode interferometer-Mach-zehnder interferometer (MMI-MZI) configuration consiting of compact thermo-optical switches on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. The device consists of two identical MMI slab waveguides as power splitters and couplers that are connected with two identical MMI-based phase shifters, and linear tapers at both ends of the MMIs to minimize the power coupling loss. A thin Al pad is used as a heating element and a trench is created around this pad to prevent heat from spreading, and to minimize loss. The calculated average thermo-optical switching power consumption, excess loss, and power imbalance are 1.4 mW, 0.9 dB, and 0.1 dB, respectively. The overall footprint of the device is 6 × 304 μm². The new heating method has advantages of compact size, ease of fabrication on SOI platform with the current CMOS technology, and offers low excess loss and power consumption as demanded by devices based on SOI technology. The device can act as two independent optical switches in one device.

Item Metadata

Title
Design of a 2 × 4 Hybrid MMI-MZI Configuration with MMI Phase-Shifters
Creator
Niraula, Boris B.; Rizal, Conrad
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2019-05-12
Description
This paper reports design of a 2 × 4 hybrid multimode interferometer-Mach-zehnder interferometer (MMI-MZI) configuration consiting of compact thermo-optical switches on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. The device consists of two identical MMI slab waveguides as power splitters and couplers that are connected with two identical MMI-based phase shifters, and linear tapers at both ends of the MMIs to minimize the power coupling loss. A thin Al pad is used as a heating element and a trench is created around this pad to prevent heat from spreading, and to minimize loss. The calculated average thermo-optical switching power consumption, excess loss, and power imbalance are 1.4 mW, 0.9 dB, and 0.1 dB, respectively. The overall footprint of the device is 6 × 304 μm². The new heating method has advantages of compact size, ease of fabrication on SOI platform with the current CMOS technology, and offers low excess loss and power consumption as demanded by devices based on SOI technology. The device can act as two independent optical switches in one device.
Subject
Multimode interferometer; MMI; MZI; Thermo-optical switch; SOI technology
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-05-29
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0379167
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70376
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of
Citation
Materials 12 (9): 1555 (2019)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/ma12091555
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0