16 × 16 non-blocking silicon optical switch based on electro-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometers

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Integrated Optics
• Semiconductor Devices

Background:

• Optical switching is crucial for high-bandwidth data communication.
• Existing optical switch fabrics face challenges in size, power consumption, and integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a compact and efficient 16x16 non-blocking optical switch fabric.
• To evaluate the performance of silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) for optical switching applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a 16x16 optical switch using 56 integrated 2x2 silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs).
• Integration of TiN resistive micro-heaters and p-i-n diodes for electrical tuning.
• Characterization of insertion loss, loss variation, and switching speed.

Main Results:

• Achieved a compact switch fabric footprint of 10.7 × 4.4 mm².
• Measured average on-chip insertion loss of ~6.7 dB (all-cross) and ~14 dB (all-bar) at 1560 nm.
• Demonstrated fast switching times (3.2/2.5 ns rise/fall) and verified functionality with 20 Gb/s OOK and 50 Gb/s QPSK signals.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated 16x16 optical switch fabric offers a promising solution for high-performance optical networks.
• Silicon photonics technology, utilizing MZIs, enables compact and fast optical switching.
• The device successfully supports high data rates required for modern communication systems.