Non‐linear characteristics of an optically reconfigurable microwave switch

Abstract

A novel, high-power optically controlled microwave switch is presented. The switch uses integrated illumination of a silicon superstate through a low-loss glass substrate which reduces losses related to the plasma conductivity tail in the silicon. Numerical electromagnetic modelling is used to design the switch and good agreement between measured and simulated results has been achieved. The switch is then characterised using a two-tone non-linearity test at 2 GHz and a third-order intercept point of +72 dBm is obtained with 10 W per tone.