7 µm-long all-optical 1×2 switch utilizing Si/VO2 hybrid waveguide

In this paper, a compact and CMOS compatible all-optical 1×2 switch based on directional coupler is proposed. One waveguide of directional coupler is a conventional silicon waveguide while else is a hybrid silicon/VO2 waveguide. By optically changing the phase of VO2 layer from insulating to metallic, dependent on VO2 thickness, a great effective refractive index modification of hybrid waveguide can be reached. The significant modifications in refractive index lead to a small length required to apply a phase shift of 31/2π in order to achieve switching mechanism. Our simulations result show that an extinction ratio and crosstalk of higher than 11 dB along only 7 µm length of switch is obtainable.

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