Open AccessDrive-noise-tolerant broadband silicon electro-optic switch
Author(s) -
Joris Van Campenhout,
William M. J. Green,
Solomon Assefa,
Yurii A. Vlasov
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.011568
Subject(s) - optical switch , extinction ratio , insertion loss , apodization , silicon on insulator , materials science , broadband , optics , optoelectronics , voltage , crosstalk , silicon , electrical engineering , physics , engineering , wavelength
We report a broadband digital electro-optical switch, based upon a multi-stage Mach-Zehnder lattice design in silicon-on-insulator. A digital switching response is demonstrated, engineered through apodization of the coupling coefficients between stages. The digital switching behavior results in crosstalk lower than -15 dB for drive-voltage noise levels in excess of 300 mV(pp), which exceeds the noise tolerance of a conventional single-stage Mach-Zehnder switch by more than six-fold. In addition, the digital design enables a larger maximum 'on'-state extinction (below -26 dB) and lower 'on'-state free-carrier-induced insertion loss (less than 0.45 dB) than that of the single-stage switch. The noise-tolerant, low-crosstalk switch can thus play a key role within CMOS-integrated reconfigurable optical networks operating under noisy on-chip conditions.