Crosstalk-, loss-, and length-reduced digital optical Y-branch switches using a double-etch waveguide structure

Khan, M. Nisa; Miller, B. I.; Burrows, E.C.; Burrus, C.A.

doi:10.1109/68.789707

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…A conventional Y-shaped waveguiding structure had been preferred to realize a DOS with polymers [1], amorphous Si [2][3], Ti-indiffused LiNbO 3 [4][5][6][7] because of its easy and compact design, though it usually suffers from a high driving voltage and crosstalk (CT) levels. The improvements in CT had been proposed by modifying this structure, such as using double-etch waveguides [8], asymmetric X-junction [9], cascaded DOS [1] and a two-stage dilated switch [10].…”

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confidence: 99%

High performance Digital Optical Switch

Singh

Gupta²,

Jain³

et al. 2011

Photon. Lett. Poland

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Abstract-In this work, we present a high performance Y-shaped digital optical switch (DOS) which complies with the DOS reported earlier using Titanium in-diffused or proton exchanged Lithium Niobate waveguiding structures. The optimization of switching characteristics is performed for switching voltage and device size. This structure has a total length of 5.5mm and a width of 20.6µm. For the first time, the driving voltage as low as 1V has been achieved with acceptable crosstalk levels (in the range of -22dB to -28dB) for communication applications. Using a beam propagation method (BPM), we demonstrate that the switch is polarization independent and suitable for low attenuation optical window (1300nm and 1550nm) operation as well.In the modern age of communication, switches are one of the most important devices in optical networks. Among various semiconductor switches, a digital optical switch (DOS) based on adiabatic mode evolution has experienced maximum attention due to its unique characteristics of low polarization and low wavelength sensitivity. A conventional Y-shaped waveguiding structure had been preferred to realize a DOS with polymers However, the crosstalk suppression using these approaches had been achieved at the expense of higher driving voltages, while device operation with low power requirements is one of the key issues in modern communication networks. Therefore emphasis shall be given on the development of a DOS with low CT levels and switch losses for low power (voltage) requirements. Proper electrode positioning shall lead to electro-optic switches with reduced losses and driving power requirements as well [7], [11]. In this work, we propose a Y-shaped digital optical switch based on conventional structure with the lowest switching voltage (1V) and CT as low as in the range of -22dB to -28dB. The device design and analysis have been done with the Beamprop software and beam propagation method (BPM), * E-mail: gschoudhary75@gmail.com respectively. We have concentrated on a Ti-indiffused or proton exchanged LiNbO 3 electro-optic DOS utilizing optimized and properly shaped (slanted) electrode regions in accordance to output waveguides to achieve better switching performance with lower voltage requirements than previously reported. Figure 1 depicts the layout of the proposed DOS based on a conventional Y-shaped waveguiding structure. In our case, the channel waveguide width (C w ) is 4µm and the entire structure has a length of 5.5mm with a total device width of 20.6µm. The length of the output arms (slanted waveguides, L arm ) is 3.5mm, with a separation of 10µm between the end facets of its output ports. The optimum length of electrodes (L e ) is found to be 3/4 th of the switch arms i.e. 2.62 mm. Here we considered slanted shaped electrode regions in accordance with outer arms rather than choosing linear electrodes as previously used [11]. Extensive iterations were performed to found the best value for a branch angle, with which the device operates as an efficient splitter under no bias conditi...

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confidence: 99%

High performance Digital Optical Switch

Singh

Gupta²,

Jain³

et al. 2011

Photon. Lett. Poland

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“…However, the resonant nature of the switching limits operation to a narrow wavelength band of less th an 1 nm [38]. While improvements can be made by shaping the branches [41,42], tapering electrodes and waveguides [43], and using double-etched waveguides w ith variable height and w idth [44], low crosstalk and compactness are difficult to achieve simultaneously. For devices to have b etter th an 20 dB crosstalk the electrodes had to be several millime ters long and the to tal device length was on the order of 1 cm [43,44].…”

Section: E) Ring Resonatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While improvements can be made by shaping the branches [41,42], tapering electrodes and waveguides [43], and using double-etched waveguides w ith variable height and w idth [44], low crosstalk and compactness are difficult to achieve simultaneously. For devices to have b etter th an 20 dB crosstalk the electrodes had to be several millime ters long and the to tal device length was on the order of 1 cm [43,44]. In addition to high power consumption, the capacitance of such long electrodes can limit the switching speed even though the switching mechanism itself can be intrinsically fast.…”

Section: E) Ring Resonatormentioning

confidence: 99%