Thermo-optical static and dynamic analysis of a digital optical switch based on amorphous silicon waveguide

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Digital Optical Switches (DOS) are crucial components in optical communication networks.
• Amorphous silicon (a-Si) offers potential for cost-effective photonic device fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform static and dynamic thermo-optical numerical analysis of a novel Digital Optical Switch (DOS).
• To achieve high performance in terms of crosstalk and switching time with relaxed fabrication requirements.
• To design a low-cost, integrable device for silicon optoelectronic circuits.

Main Methods:

• Numerical analysis, including static and dynamic thermo-optical simulations.
• Design of a DOS utilizing amorphous silicon waveguides operating at 1550 nm.
• Optimization of waveguide dimensions and output branch angles for performance.

Main Results:

• Achieved optical switching with a crosstalk of 25 dB.
• Obtained a response time on the order of ten microseconds.
• Demonstrated feasibility with relaxed design constraints like large cross-section waveguides.

Conclusions:

• The developed Digital Optical Switch (DOS) shows promising performance for infrared communication wavelengths.
• The device is suitable for low-cost photonic applications and integration into silicon optoelectronic circuits.
• Thermo-optical analysis confirms the viability of the amorphous silicon waveguide approach for optical switching.