About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Journal of Lightwave Technology
Paper
Design and Fabrication of Low-Insertion-Loss and Low-Crosstalk Broadband 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder Silicon Photonic Switches
Abstract
We present the design, fabrication, and measurement results of low-insertion-loss and low-crosstalk broadband 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder switches for nanosecond-scale optical data routing applications. We propose a simulation framework to calculate the spectral characteristics of switches and use it to design two switches: one based on directional couplers, the other using two-section directional couplers for broader bandwidth. We show that driving the switch in a push-pull manner enables to reduce insertion loss and optical crosstalk at the expense of the optical bandwidth. We achieve a good correlation between simulations and devices fabricated in IBM's 90-nm photonics-enabled CMOS process. We demonstrate a push-pull drive switch with insertion loss of ∼ 1 dB and an optical crosstalk smaller than -23 dB over a 45-nm optical bandwidth in the O-band. We further achieve a transition time of ∼ 4 ns with an average phase shifter consumption of 1 mW and a heater efficiency of ∼25 mWπ.