Low-crosstalk 2 x 2 thermo-optic switch with silicon wire waveguides
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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
Yuya Shoji1, Kenji Kintaka, Satoshi Suda
1Network Photonics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan. y-shoji@aist.go.jp
Abstract:
We demonstrate a low-crosstalk 2 x 2 thermo-optic switch with silicon wire waveguides. The device is based on a 2 x 2 array of Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switches. Lowest crosstalk levels of -50 dB and -30 dB are obtained for 'bar' and 'cross' switching states, respectively. An intersection in the switch is important for low-crosstalk operation. The power consumption of one MZI element switch is 40 mW and the total power consumption of the device is at most 160 mW.
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