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Silicon Mode-Selective Switch via Horizontal Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Capacitor Incorporated With ENZ-ITO
Weifeng Jiang1, Jinye Miao2, Tao Li2
1College of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China. jwf@njupt.edu.cn.
Scientific Reports
|November 30, 2019
Summary
A novel silicon mode-selective switch (MSS) utilizes a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor with epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) indium-tin-oxide (ITO) for efficient optical signal switching. This device offers high extinction ratios and gigahertz operation speeds for mode-division-multiplexing networks.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Optical Switching
- Semiconductor Devices
Background:
- Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) enables higher data transmission capacity.
- Efficient optical switches are crucial for routing signals in MDM networks.
- Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) exhibits epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) properties tunable with carrier concentration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and optimize a silicon mode-selective switch (MSS) for optical signal routing.
- To investigate the performance of an MSS based on a horizontal metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor with ENZ-ITO.
- To analyze the impact of accumulation layer thickness on switch performance and speed.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a horizontal MOS capacitor integrated with ENZ-ITO for optical switching.
- Employing the full-vectorial finite element method for optimizing the triple-waveguide coupler.
- Applying the 3D full-vectorial eigenmode expansion method to study layer thickness and optimal design.
- Simulating switch states (OFF/ON) by adjusting carrier concentration via gate voltage.
Main Results:
- Optimized MSS designs achieve high extinction ratios: up to 37.29 dB (OFF) and 23.7 dB (ON).
- Operation speeds reach 6.2-6.3 GHz for various accumulation layer thicknesses (1.5, 5.0, 10.0 nm).
- The switch demonstrates stable performance at a 2.5 V gate voltage, preventing oxide breakdown.
Conclusions:
- The proposed silicon MSS effectively switches optical signals using tunable carrier concentration in ENZ-ITO.
- The device shows promising performance metrics (extinction ratio, speed) for practical applications.
- This MSS is suitable for integration into mode-division-multiplexing networks for advanced signal processing.
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