Analysis and Design Optimization of a Hybrid VO2/Silicon2 $\times$ 2 Microring Switch

The metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) property of vanadium dioxide (VO2) has recently been used in several application fields such as plasmonics, sensing, metamaterials, and optical modulation. Due to the MIT nature, VO2 allows a huge change in its complex refractive index that can be electrooptically controlled. In this paper, the analysis and design optimization of a 2 × 2 microring switch based on a hybrid VO2/silicon waveguide structure is addressed. Switching is achieved by exploiting the change in both absorption loss and phase shift that occurs in VO2 when changing from the insulating to the metallic state. The device is optimized to minimize insertion losses and crosstalk. An active length of only μm is required to achieve a data throughput rate higher than 500 Gb/s at a single optical wavelength.

[1]  Lay Kee Ang,et al.  Ultracompact vanadium dioxide dual-mode plasmonic waveguide electroabsorption modulator , 2013, nano Online.

[2]  P. Dumon,et al.  Silicon microring resonators , 2012 .

[3]  Jin Tae Kim,et al.  CMOS-compatible hybrid plasmonic modulator based on vanadium dioxide insulator-metal phase transition. , 2014, Optics letters.

[4]  Joyce K. S. Poon,et al.  Sub-volt broadband hybrid plasmonic-vanadium dioxide switches , 2012, 1210.0785.

[5]  Jin Tae Kim,et al.  Design of Vanadium Dioxide-Based Plasmonic Modulator for Both TE and TM Modes , 2015, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[6]  K. Diest,et al.  Vanadium dioxide based plasmonic modulators. , 2012, Optics express.

[7]  Judson D Ryckman,et al.  Ultra-compact silicon photonic devices reconfigured by an optically induced semiconductor-to-metal transition. , 2013, Optics express.

[8]  Gokul Gopalakrishnan,et al.  Electrical triggering of metal-insulator transition in nanoscale vanadium oxide junctions , 2009 .

[9]  David Alain,et al.  Wavelength-size hybrid Si-VO(2) waveguide electroabsorption optical switches and photodetectors. , 2015, Optics express.

[10]  Joyeeta Nag,et al.  Photothermal optical modulation of ultra-compact hybrid Si-VO₂ ring resonators. , 2012, Optics express.

[11]  Kannatassen Appavoo,et al.  Hybrid Si-VO(2)-Au optical modulator based on near-field plasmonic coupling. , 2015, Optics express.

[12]  Harry A Atwater,et al.  Compact silicon photonic waveguide modulator based on the vanadium dioxide metal-insulator phase transition. , 2010, Optics express.

[13]  J. S. Aitchison,et al.  Voltage-Controlled Switching and Thermal Effects in VO2 Nano-Gap Junctions , 2014 .

[14]  Ivan K Schuller,et al.  Role of thermal heating on the voltage induced insulator-metal transition in VO2. , 2013, Physical review letters.

[15]  Federico Capasso,et al.  Thermal tuning of mid-infrared plasmonic antenna arrays using a phase change material. , 2013, Optics letters.

[16]  Richard F. Haglund,et al.  Optically Monitored Electrical Switching in VO2 , 2015 .

[17]  Byung-Gyu Chae,et al.  Abrupt metal–insulator transition observed in VO2 thin films induced by a switching voltage pulse , 2005 .

[18]  Alexander Pergament,et al.  Oxide Electronics and Vanadium Dioxide Perspective: A Review , 2013 .

[19]  B. Kahng,et al.  Origin of variation in switching voltages in threshold-switching phenomena of VO2 thin films , 2013 .