Compact $$3\times 3$$ 3 × 3 wavelength routing for photonic integrated circuits

Abstract

Photonic integrated circuits are the future of optical communication networks. The demand for high bandwidth has added a remarkable increase in the capacity of transmission and routing techniques for optical networks. With massive growth in photonic integrated circuits, communication within them (PIC) is an area that needs to be explored and addressed. The signal path between different components in the circuit has to be established for an optimal path with high transmission efficiency. This could be achieved using routers. With this being the intention, this paper proceeds with a design of two $$3\,\times \,3$$ optical passive wavelength routers using photonic crystal ring resonators. The designed router connects three transmitters to three receivers with desired characteristics such as low crosstalk, less propagation delay, low insertion loss and can be easily fabricated because of its less complex design. The routers are designed to operate in third transmission window wavelength with basic building blocks of $$1\,\times \,2$$ routers. The designed layout of routers exhibits good performance which can be used for all optical communication networks and has a good technological compatibility for chip level integration in PIC. The layout is simulated using finite difference time domain and plane wave expansion methods.