Silicon photonic microelectromechanical phase shifters for scalable programmable photonics

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Integrated Circuits

Background:

• Programmable photonic integrated circuits are crucial for quantum information processing and artificial neural networks.
• Scalability of these circuits is hindered by the absence of efficient, low-power, and low-loss phase shifters in commercial foundries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a compact, low-power phase shifter utilizing photonic MEMS actuation.
• To integrate this device onto a silicon photonics foundry platform for practical applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel phase shifter design with MEMS actuation.
• Fabrication on IMEC's iSiPP50G silicon photonics foundry platform.
• Characterization of phase shift, insertion loss, voltage/length per phase shift, and actuation bandwidth.

Main Results:

• Achieved a phase shift of (2.9π±π) at 1550 nm.
• Demonstrated low insertion loss of (0.33-0.10+0.15) dB.
• Measured a Vπ of (10.7-1.4+2.2) V and Lπ of (17.2-4.3+8.8) µm, with a 1.03 MHz actuation bandwidth.

Conclusions:

• The developed low-loss, low-power photonic MEMS phase shifter is compatible with silicon photonics foundry technology.
• This breakthrough addresses a significant obstacle in the large-scale implementation of programmable photonic integrated circuits.