Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Silica-based splitters, couplers, and arrayed waveguide gratings are key components in optical communication. However, the high tuning power consumption of silica chips limits their development and application in fields such as Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers and Mode Division Multiplexing. In this work, we demonstrate a silica thermo-optic switch based on polymer cladding within a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer framework, in which a UV-curable polymer is employed as the upper cladding to enhance thermal efficiency. The device exhibits a power consumption of 48 mW, rise and fall response times were 215 µs and 271 µs, compared to all-silicon switches, the power consumption is reduced by 75%, and the switching speed is improved by nearly a factor of two, while maintaining a comparable insertion loss. Experimental results demonstrate an insertion loss of 8.53 dB and an extinction ratio of 10.12 dB.
Source: Polymers
Authors: Tianyu Zhong, Jiale Qin, Wenqian Liu, Yuqi Xie, Chahao An, Yinxiang Qin, Yunji Yi
Institution: Shenzhen Technology University
Language: English
Topic: Photonic and Optical Devices
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,258
OpenAlex ID: W4416917459