Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband
The mid-infrared (MIR, 2–20 μm) waveband is of great interest for integrated photonics in many applications such as on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing, and optical communication. Thermo-optic switches are essential to large-scale integrated photonic circuits at MIR wavebands. However, current te...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1083 |
| _version_ | 1797438262532374528 |
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| author | Chuyu Zhong Zhibin Zhang Hui Ma Maoliang Wei Yuting Ye Jianghong Wu Bo Tang Peng Zhang Ruonan Liu Junying Li Lan Li Xiaoyong Hu Kaihui Liu Hongtao Lin |
| author_facet | Chuyu Zhong Zhibin Zhang Hui Ma Maoliang Wei Yuting Ye Jianghong Wu Bo Tang Peng Zhang Ruonan Liu Junying Li Lan Li Xiaoyong Hu Kaihui Liu Hongtao Lin |
| author_sort | Chuyu Zhong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The mid-infrared (MIR, 2–20 μm) waveband is of great interest for integrated photonics in many applications such as on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing, and optical communication. Thermo-optic switches are essential to large-scale integrated photonic circuits at MIR wavebands. However, current technologies require a thick cladding layer, high driving voltages or may introduce high losses in MIR wavelengths, limiting the performance. This paper has demonstrated thermo-optic (TO) switches operating at 2 μm by integrating graphene onto silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures. The remarkable thermal and optical properties of graphene make it an excellent heater material platform. The lower loss of graphene at MIR wavelength can reduce the required cladding thickness for the thermo-optics phase shifter from micrometers to tens of nanometers, resulting in a lower driving voltage and power consumption. The modulation efficiency of the microring resonator (MRR) switch was 0.11 nm/mW. The power consumption for 8-dB extinction ratio was 5.18 mW (0.8 V modulation voltage), and the rise/fall time was 3.72/3.96 μs. Furthermore, we demonstrated a 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) TO switch with a high extinction ratio of more than 27 dB and a switching rise/fall time of 4.92/4.97 μs. A comprehensive analysis of the device performance affected by the device structure and the graphene Fermi level was also performed. The theoretical figure of merit (2.644 mW<sup>−1</sup>μs<sup>−1</sup>) of graphene heaters is three orders of magnitude higher than that of metal heaters. Such results indicate graphene is an exceptional nanomaterial for future MIR optical interconnects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:35:08Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:35:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
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| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-92be76d47938435a8934593629df90b22023-11-30T23:44:11ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912022-03-01127108310.3390/nano12071083Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared WavebandChuyu Zhong0Zhibin Zhang1Hui Ma2Maoliang Wei3Yuting Ye4Jianghong Wu5Bo Tang6Peng Zhang7Ruonan Liu8Junying Li9Lan Li10Xiaoyong Hu11Kaihui Liu12Hongtao Lin13State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Frontiers Science Center for Nano-Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaKey Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, ChinaKey Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaKey Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Frontiers Science Center for Nano-Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Frontiers Science Center for Nano-Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaThe mid-infrared (MIR, 2–20 μm) waveband is of great interest for integrated photonics in many applications such as on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing, and optical communication. Thermo-optic switches are essential to large-scale integrated photonic circuits at MIR wavebands. However, current technologies require a thick cladding layer, high driving voltages or may introduce high losses in MIR wavelengths, limiting the performance. This paper has demonstrated thermo-optic (TO) switches operating at 2 μm by integrating graphene onto silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures. The remarkable thermal and optical properties of graphene make it an excellent heater material platform. The lower loss of graphene at MIR wavelength can reduce the required cladding thickness for the thermo-optics phase shifter from micrometers to tens of nanometers, resulting in a lower driving voltage and power consumption. The modulation efficiency of the microring resonator (MRR) switch was 0.11 nm/mW. The power consumption for 8-dB extinction ratio was 5.18 mW (0.8 V modulation voltage), and the rise/fall time was 3.72/3.96 μs. Furthermore, we demonstrated a 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) TO switch with a high extinction ratio of more than 27 dB and a switching rise/fall time of 4.92/4.97 μs. A comprehensive analysis of the device performance affected by the device structure and the graphene Fermi level was also performed. The theoretical figure of merit (2.644 mW<sup>−1</sup>μs<sup>−1</sup>) of graphene heaters is three orders of magnitude higher than that of metal heaters. Such results indicate graphene is an exceptional nanomaterial for future MIR optical interconnects.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1083mid-infrared2 μm wavebandthermo-optic switchgraphene heater |
| spellingShingle | Chuyu Zhong Zhibin Zhang Hui Ma Maoliang Wei Yuting Ye Jianghong Wu Bo Tang Peng Zhang Ruonan Liu Junying Li Lan Li Xiaoyong Hu Kaihui Liu Hongtao Lin Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband Nanomaterials mid-infrared 2 μm waveband thermo-optic switch graphene heater |
| title | Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband |
| title_full | Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband |
| title_fullStr | Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband |
| title_full_unstemmed | Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband |
| title_short | Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband |
| title_sort | silicon thermo optic switches with graphene heaters operating at mid infrared waveband |
| topic | mid-infrared 2 μm waveband thermo-optic switch graphene heater |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1083 |
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