title: Analysis and design of thermo-optical variable optical attenuator using three-waveguide directional couplers based on SOI.
abstract: A thermo-optical variable optical attenuator (VOA), consisting of three cascaded three-waveguide directional couplers, was designed on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer. Thermo-optical dynamic, static analysis and optical propagation characteristic simulation at the wavelength of 1550 nm were presented. The dynamic attenuation range from 0.14 dB to 50 dB was achieved by a refractive index (RI) variation: 0 to 5.55 x 10(-3), (the corresponding temperature variation: 0 to 30 degrees C). The response time was about 5 micros, which was attributed to Si/Al(2)O(3)/Si structure. The device could be easily used to fabricate multi-channel VOA as the basic unit and integrated in silicon optoelectronic circuits.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Weiyou
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Fumin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Caixia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008027:Light; D008422:Materials Testing; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055096:Optical Devices; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013696:Temperature; D014159:Transducers