Suspended Silicon Waveguide with Sub-Wavelength Grating Cladding for Optical MEMS in Mid-Infrared

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Mid-infrared (MIR) photonics are crucial for spectroscopic sensing, thermal imaging, and remote sensing.
• Silicon photonics offers a promising platform for developing MIR photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
• A need exists for reconfigurable MIR photonic devices to enhance on-chip functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel MEMS reconfiguration approach for MIR silicon photonics.
• To enable low-loss, energy-efficient, and effective reconfiguration of on-chip optical systems.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of MIR MEMS-reconfigurable photonics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a suspended silicon waveguide on silicon-on-insulator for MIR (3.7–4.1 μm) applications.
• Integrated photonic waveguides with MEMS actuators using sub-wavelength grating claddings.
• Performed simulation studies for waveguide design and MEMS integration.
• Experimentally characterized suspended waveguides, couplers, and a reconfigurable ring resonator.

Main Results:

• Achieved low propagation loss of -2.9 dB/cm for suspended waveguides.
• Measured minimal bending loss of -0.076 dB per bend.
• Successfully demonstrated experimental validation of the MEMS reconfiguration approach using a ring resonator.
• Confirmed the integration of photonic waveguides with MEMS actuators.

Conclusions:

• The proposed waveguide platform is capable of MIR MEMS-reconfigurable photonics.
• This technology empowers MIR on-chip optical systems for diverse applications.
• The developed approach offers a pathway towards advanced functionalities in MIR integrated photonics.