Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2025
Design and Characterization Methodology for Efficient Wide Range Tunable MEMS Filters
Published on: February 4, 2018
Nonvolatile waveguide transmission tuning with electrically-driven ultra-small GST phase-change material.
Hanyu Zhang1, Linjie Zhou1, Jian Xu1
1State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Navigation and Location Services, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Communication and Data Science, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
We demonstrate a new nonvolatile tuning method for reconfigurable optical circuits using phase-change materials. This approach offers low-power optical circuit reconfiguration, overcoming limitations of existing methods.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and optical engineering
- Materials science for electronic applications
Background:
- Low-power reconfigurable optical circuits are crucial for diverse applications.
- Conventional electro-optic and thermo-optic tuning methods suffer from high static power consumption and volatility.
- A need exists for nonvolatile and low-power tuning techniques in silicon photonics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and demonstrate a novel nonvolatile tuning method for silicon photonic circuits.
- To leverage the phase-change properties of Germanium-Antimony-Tellurium (GST) for optical circuit reconfiguration.
- To address the limitations of current refractive index tuning methods.
Main Methods:
- Integration of GST material onto a silicon waveguide.
- Utilizing the reversible phase change property of GST via electrical pulses.
- Fabrication of a μm-sized GST active region in a sandwich structure for electrical stimulation.
- Characterization of optical transmission changes in the silicon waveguide based on GST phase state.
Main Results:
- Successful demonstration of nonvolatile tuning of optical circuits.
- Optical transmission of silicon waveguides can be effectively tuned by controlling the phase state of integrated GST.
- The proposed method utilizes the reversible phase change property of GST for optical modulation.
Conclusions:
- The proposed GST-based phase change method provides a viable nonvolatile tuning solution for optical circuits.
- This technique offers a low-power alternative to conventional electro-optic and thermo-optic methods.
- The demonstrated approach has the potential to enable more efficient and versatile reconfigurable optical circuits.
