Polymeric 1 x 2 switch using thermo-optic transition controlled directional coupler

Chul Hyun Choi; Min Woo Lee; Beom-Hoan O; Seung-Gol Lee; Se-Geun Park; El-Hang Lee

doi:10.1117/12.648898

3 March 2006 Polymeric 1 x 2 switch using thermo-optic transition controlled directional coupler

Chul Hyun Choi, Min Woo Lee, Beom-Hoan O, Seung-Gol Lee, Se-Geun Park, El-Hang Lee

Proceedings Volume 6124, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits VIII; 61241J (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.648898
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2006, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We propose a novel directional coupler type switch based on mode transfer by thermo-optic effect. In our design, the directional coupler switch maintains the anti-coupling by changing the refractive index in ON state and the coupling in OFF state. In this paper, the directional coupler switch consisted of only one single electrode on the opposite side of input waveguide in the coupling region. The coupling region was designed to have the coupling length for perfect optical coupling. Polymer materials with large thermo-optic coefficient were adopted for the change of the refractive index profiles of two waveguides. As the thermo-optic coefficient of polymer materials is negative, the refractive index decreases by applied voltage. When the electrode is sufficiently powered, the incident light only propagates along the input waveguide due to breaking the symmetry. For the optimized switch design, our simulating study shows the extinction ratios of -21.2 and -28.3 dB in OFF and ON states, respectively. The required variation of the refractive index for switching is only order of 10^-3. This concept is expected to improve the power consumption and the extinction ratio of a directional coupler switch.

Citation Download Citation

Chul Hyun Choi, Min Woo Lee, Beom-Hoan O, Seung-Gol Lee, Se-Geun Park, and El-Hang Lee "Polymeric 1 x 2 switch using thermo-optic transition controlled directional coupler", Proc. SPIE 6124, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits VIII, 61241J (3 March 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.648898

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