Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides
This paper proposes a compact planar optofluidic optical cross-connect (OXC) switch based on electro-optic (EO) waveguides in nematic liquid crystal (NLC). In the cross-bar fabric, each unit cell of the proposed device consists of two portions: the NLC EO waveguides for 1 × 2 switching an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2018-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Photonics Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8423523/ |
| _version_ | 1828967958259433472 |
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| author | Tenghao Li Qingming Chen Xuming Zhang |
| author_facet | Tenghao Li Qingming Chen Xuming Zhang |
| author_sort | Tenghao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper proposes a compact planar optofluidic optical cross-connect (OXC) switch based on electro-optic (EO) waveguides in nematic liquid crystal (NLC). In the cross-bar fabric, each unit cell of the proposed device consists of two portions: the NLC EO waveguides for 1 × 2 switching and the fixed NLC-core waveguides to support subsequent beam paths of the lead-in/lead-out process or the bending process. With numerical simulations, a sample design of 8 × 8 OXC is analyzed and optimized, which provides the predicted broadband performance as approximately 8.0 dB maximum on-chip insertion loss, -45.9 dB cross-talk and 16 ms switching time in the footprint of 2 mm × 2 mm. The loss reduction and the switching speed-up issues are also discussed, with the expected 5.5 dB maximum on-chip insertion loss and 1 ms switching time. The proposed OXC switch is new in the working principle using both electric-field reconfigurable NLC waveguides and fixed NLC-core waveguides, and can leverage the liquid-crystal on silicon fabrication. It is potential for optical circuit switching in the small-scale data centers, or protection switching in optical communication networks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:02:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b128504c914d43dc836f5612cb5a2b5a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1943-0655 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:02:25Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Photonics Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-b128504c914d43dc836f5612cb5a2b5a2022-12-21T23:01:58ZengIEEEIEEE Photonics Journal1943-06552018-01-0110411710.1109/JPHOT.2018.28537598423523Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal WaveguidesTenghao Li0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9231-1193Qingming Chen1Xuming Zhang2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9326-5547Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong KongDepartment of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong KongDepartment of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong KongThis paper proposes a compact planar optofluidic optical cross-connect (OXC) switch based on electro-optic (EO) waveguides in nematic liquid crystal (NLC). In the cross-bar fabric, each unit cell of the proposed device consists of two portions: the NLC EO waveguides for 1 × 2 switching and the fixed NLC-core waveguides to support subsequent beam paths of the lead-in/lead-out process or the bending process. With numerical simulations, a sample design of 8 × 8 OXC is analyzed and optimized, which provides the predicted broadband performance as approximately 8.0 dB maximum on-chip insertion loss, -45.9 dB cross-talk and 16 ms switching time in the footprint of 2 mm × 2 mm. The loss reduction and the switching speed-up issues are also discussed, with the expected 5.5 dB maximum on-chip insertion loss and 1 ms switching time. The proposed OXC switch is new in the working principle using both electric-field reconfigurable NLC waveguides and fixed NLC-core waveguides, and can leverage the liquid-crystal on silicon fabrication. It is potential for optical circuit switching in the small-scale data centers, or protection switching in optical communication networks.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8423523/Liquid-crystal devicesoptical switchingintegrated photonics. |
| spellingShingle | Tenghao Li Qingming Chen Xuming Zhang Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides IEEE Photonics Journal Liquid-crystal devices optical switching integrated photonics. |
| title | Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides |
| title_full | Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides |
| title_fullStr | Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides |
| title_short | Optofluidic Planar Optical Cross-Connect Using Nematic Liquid-Crystal Waveguides |
| title_sort | optofluidic planar optical cross connect using nematic liquid crystal waveguides |
| topic | Liquid-crystal devices optical switching integrated photonics. |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8423523/ |
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