title: Compact, low-loss and low-power 8×8 broadband silicon optical switch.
abstract: We demonstrated a 8×8 broadband optical switch on silicon for transverse-electrical polarization using a switch-and-selector architecture. The switch has a footprint of only 8 mm × 8 mm, minimum on-chip loss of about 4 dB, and a port-to-port insertion loss variation of only 0.8 dB near some spectral regions. The port-to-port isolation is above 30 dB over the entire 80-nm-wide spectral range or above 45 dB near the central 30 nm. We also demonstrated a switching power of less than 1.5 mW per element and a speed of 2 kHz, and estimated the upper bound of total power consumption to be less than 70 mW even without optimization of the default state of the individual switch elements.
authors.affiliation: Alcatel-Lucent Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733, USA. lchen286@gmail.com
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Young-kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D055096:Optical Devices; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon