Ultra-low-energy programmable non-volatile silicon photonics based on phase-change materials with graphene heaters

Fang, Zhuoran; Chen, Rui; Zheng, Jiajiu; Khan, Asir Intisar; Neilson, Kathryn M.; Geiger, Sarah; Callahan, Dennis M.; Moebius, Michael; Saxena, Abhi; Chen, Michelle E.; Rı́os, Carlos; Hu, Juejun; Pop, Eric; Majumdar, Arka

doi:10.1038/s41565-022-01153-w

Cited by 133 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

117

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The phase transition temperature of Sb 2 Se 3 is 473 K and the melting temperature of Sb 2 Se 3 is 893 K [ 33 , 34 ], where the upper temperature limit of the proposed device is 1100 K. From Figure 10 , the required temperatures for the phase change of Sb 2 Se 3 material can be achieved using the proposed graphene microheater. The graphene microheater is more efficient than other metal heaters because of the high thermal conductivity and low heat capacity of graphene [ 43 , 44 ]. In addition, the phase transition and melting temperatures of Sb 2 Se 3 are clearly lower than the melting temperatures of silicon, silica, graphene, and Al 2 O 3 , thus the phase transition process will not damage the proposed device.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the phase transition and melting temperatures of Sb 2 Se 3 are clearly lower than the melting temperatures of silicon, silica, graphene, and Al 2 O 3 , thus the phase transition process will not damage the proposed device. For the switching time of the material Sb 2 Se 3 based on the electric-thermal phase transition method, the commonly required pulse width is ~100 μs (120 μs for the trailing edge) from the amorphous state to crystalline state, while the pulse width is only ~400 ns (10 ns for the trailing edge) from the crystalline state to the amorphous state [ 44 ]. So, one switching cycle is <250 μs, including the trailing edge of the pulse.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The thicknesses of the Al 2 O 3 and graphene layers are H 1 (=20 nm) and H 3 (=0.35 nm), respectively. The graphene layer works as an efficient microheater because of its high thermal conductivity and low heat capacity [ 43 , 44 ]. The optical absorption loss of graphene could be quite low as the chemical potential of graphene is larger than 0.4 eV owing to the Pauli blocking mechanism [ 45 , 46 ].…”

Section: Device Structure and Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

On-Chip Reconfigurable and Ultracompact Silicon Waveguide Mode Converters Based on Nonvolatile Optical Phase Change Materials

Fei

Huang

et al. 2022

Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reconfigurable mode converters are essential components in efficient higher-order mode sources for on-chip multimode applications. We propose an on-chip reconfigurable silicon waveguide mode conversion scheme based on the nonvolatile and low-loss optical phase change material antimony triselenide (Sb2Se3). The key mode conversion region is formed by embedding a tapered Sb2Se3 layer into the silicon waveguide along the propagation direction and further cladding with graphene and aluminum oxide layers as the microheater. The proposed device can achieve the TE0-to-TE1 mode conversion and reconfigurable conversion (no mode conversion) depending on the phase state of embedded Sb2Se3 layer, whereas such function could not be realized according to previous reports. The proposed device length is only 2.3 μm with conversion efficiency (CE) = 97.5%, insertion loss (IL) = 0.2 dB, and mode crosstalk (CT) = −20.5 dB. Furthermore, the proposed device scheme can be extended to achieve other reconfigurable higher-order mode conversions. We believe the proposed reconfigurable mode conversion scheme and related devices could serve as the fundamental building blocks to provide higher-order mode sources for on-chip multimode photonics.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Device Structure and Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On-Chip Reconfigurable and Ultracompact Silicon Waveguide Mode Converters Based on Nonvolatile Optical Phase Change Materials

Fei

Huang

et al. 2022

Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are predominantly two types of electrical heaters: (1) doped intrinsic semiconductor, such as silicon, on which the PICs are fabricated; ,, and (2) extrinsic heaters, such as metal, graphene, , indium-doped tin oxide (ITO), , or fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) . A detailed simulation study of different heaters revealed that graphene heaters are much more electrical energy-efficient than doped semiconductors (such as PIN diode-based silicon heaters) or ITO heaters, primarily because of graphene’s much smaller active volume.…”

Section: Review Of Phase-change Materials Photonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For doped silicon heaters, the geometry of the doping area and the silicon waveguides can be optimized to eliminate the local hotspots. Besides, new heaters, such as graphene heaters, , should be explored to maximize heat delivery to the PCMs, easing the stringent phase change conditions and significantly improving their energy efficiency.…”

Section: Challenges and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities and Challenges for Large-Scale Phase-Change Material Integrated Electro-Photonics

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Programmable photonics have the potential to completely transform a range of emerging applications, including optical computing, optical signal processing, light detecting and ranging, and quantum applications. However, implementing energy-efficient and large-scale systems remains elusive because commonly used programmable photonic approaches are volatile and energy-hungry. Recent results on nonvolatile phase-change material (PCM) integrated photonics present a promising opportunity to create truly programmable photonics. The ability to drastically change the refractive index of the PCMs in a nonvolatile fashion allows creating programmable units with zero-static energy. By taking advantage of the electrical control, nonvolatile reconfiguration, and zero crosstalk between each unit, PCMs can enable extra large-scale integrated (ELSI) photonics. In this Perspective, we briefly review the recent progress in PCM photonics and discuss the challenges and limitations of this emerging technology. We argue that energy efficiency is a more critical parameter than the operating speed for programmable photonics, making PCMs an ideal candidate. This has the potential for a disruptive paradigm shift in the reconfigurable photonics research philosophy, as slow but energy-efficient and large index modulation can provide a better solution for ELSI photonics than fast but power-hungry, small index tuning methods. We also highlight the exciting opportunities to leverage wide bandgap PCMs for visible-wavelength applications, such as quantum photonics and optogenetics, and for rewritable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) using nanosecond pulsed lasers. The latter can dramatically reduce the fabrication cost of PICs and democratize the PIC manufacturing process for rapid prototyping.

show abstract

Non‐Volatile Optical Switch Element Enabled by Low‐Loss Phase Change Material

Yang

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) integrated with phase‐change materials have attracted great interest due to their low power consumption and ultra‐compact size, which are favored for reconfigurable photonic processors. However, they suffer from a low optical extinction ratio and limited switching cycles due to high material loss and poor reversible repeatability caused by material degradation. Here a non‐volatile electrically reconfigurable 2 × 2 MZI integrated with a low‐loss phase‐change material Sb2Se3 encapsulated in Al2O3 layers is demonstrated. The phase change is electrically actuated by a forward‐biased silicon p‐i‐n diode. The switch extinction ratio is more than 20 dB due to the low‐loss Sb2Se3‐based phase shifter. By dividing the Sb2Se3 patch into small sub‐cells to restrict the material reflow, more than 10 000 reversible phase‐change cycles and 6‐bit multilevel switching states are achieved by programming the electrical pulses. Its non‐volatility, high endurance, and fine‐tuning capability makes the device promising in large‐scale low‐power reconfigurable photonic processors.

show abstract

Ultra-low-energy programmable non-volatile silicon photonics based on phase-change materials with graphene heaters

Cited by 133 publications

References 49 publications

On-Chip Reconfigurable and Ultracompact Silicon Waveguide Mode Converters Based on Nonvolatile Optical Phase Change Materials

On-Chip Reconfigurable and Ultracompact Silicon Waveguide Mode Converters Based on Nonvolatile Optical Phase Change Materials

Opportunities and Challenges for Large-Scale Phase-Change Material Integrated Electro-Photonics

Non‐Volatile Optical Switch Element Enabled by Low‐Loss Phase Change Material

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About