Abstract

Silicon-based optical media present several desirable properties for a wide range of applications. Herein, we propose a novel hybrid integration scheme that combines a silicon photonics platform and a 5.5%--silica planar-lightwave circuit (PLC) platform. By exploiting the performance advantages of each platform, we fabricated a polarization-insensitive low-crosstalk 8 8 silicon photonics switch butt-jointed with a compact 5.5%--silica PLC-based 100-GHz 8-channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). The device was driven by a smartphone-sized (9 cm 13.5 cm) control board. The fabricated device exhibits a fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 12.6 dB, an average polarization-dependent loss of less than 0.57 dB, and less than -40 dB leakage to non-target output ports. We also demonstrate two uses of the proposed device. The first is the DEMUX and Switch operation, in which the spectrally divided light by the AWG is routed to an arbitrary output port by a subsequent switch. The second is the Switch and MUX operation, in which arbitrary wavelengths from arbitrary input ports are merged by the AWG. No spectral degradation was observed in either operation. These results demonstrate the potential of the 5.5%--PLC/silicon photonics hybrid platform for compact, low-power, and fast-switching applications.

Highlights

  • SILICON photonics uses silicon-based optical media as photonics platforms, which exhibit high optical confinement due to the high refractive index difference between the silicon core and the silica claddings [1]

  • We demonstrate a wavelength (DE)MUX-and-switch device comprised of a polarization-diversity double-MachZehnder (MZ) 8 × 8 silicon photonics switch butt-jointed with a SiO2-ZrO2-based 100-GHz 8-ch arrayed waveguide grating (AWG)

  • We demonstrated a wavelength (DE)MUX and a switch device using a 5.5%-Δ-silica planar-lightwave circuit (PLC)/silicon photonics hybrid platform

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

SILICON photonics uses silicon-based optical media as photonics platforms, which exhibit high optical confinement due to the high refractive index difference between the silicon core and the silica claddings [1]. Silicon-based optical media have several advantages, such as large-scale and compact photonic integrated circuits, low power consumption, fast switching, and cost-effective mass production. These features have been leveraged to realize compact optical transceivers [2] and optical switches [3]. We exploited the advantages of each platform and demonstrated a low-insertionloss and power-efficient 32 × 32 silicon photonics switch with a SiO2-ZrO2-based PLC fiber connector [6], where a low loss coupling of 1.4 dB/facet between standard single mode fibers and silicon waveguides was achieved. To fabricate the silica and silicon hybrid device, the PLC chip was diced and polished at the red dashed line shown in Fig. 1(a) to butt-couple with the silicon photonics switch described

SILICON PHOTONICS SWITCH
WAVELENGTH DEMUX-AND-SWITCH OPERATION
SWITCH -AND WAVELENGTH MUX OPERATION
CONCLUSION
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