Electrically controlled 1  ×  2 tunable switch using a phase change material embedded silicon microring

Phase change material Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) has recently emerged as a highly promising candidate for photonic device applications owing to its high optical contrast, self-holding bi-stability, and fast material response. Here, we propose and analyze a 1×2 tunable switch using a GST embedded silicon microring resonator exploiting high optical contrast during GST phase change and a high thermo-optic coefficient of amorphous phase GST. Our device exhibits high extinction ratios of 25.57 dB and 18.75 dB at through and drop ports, respectively, with just a 1 µm long GST layer. The two states of the switch are realizable by electrically inducing phase change in GST. For post phase change from amorphous to crystalline and vice versa, the fall time down the 80% of phase transition temperature is ∼66ns and ∼45ns, respectively. The resonance wavelength shift per unit active length is 0.661 nm/µm, and the tuning efficiency is 1.16 nm/mW. The large wavelength tunability (4.63 nm) of the proposed switch makes it an attractive option for reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits.