Resonant multilevel optical switching with phase change material GST

Wu Di; Yang Xing; Wang Ningning; Lu Liangjun; Chen Jianping; Zhou Linjie; Rahman B. M. Azizur

doi:10.1515/nanoph-2022-0276

Nanophotonics (Jun 2022)

Resonant multilevel optical switching with phase change material GST

Wu Di,
Yang Xing,
Wang Ningning,
Lu Liangjun,
Chen Jianping,
Zhou Linjie,
Rahman B. M. Azizur

Affiliations

Wu Di: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Yang Xing: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Wang Ningning: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Lu Liangjun: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Chen Jianping: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Zhou Linjie: Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Shanghai Key Lab of Navigation and Location Services, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Rahman B. M. Azizur: School of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences, City University of London, London EC1V 0HB, UK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2022-0276
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 15
pp. 3437 – 3446

Abstract

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We demonstrate a multilevel optical memristive switch based on a silicon Fabry–Perot resonator. The resonator is constructed by a pair of waveguide Bragg gratings at the ends of a multimode interferometer (MMI) covered with sub-micrometer-size Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) thin film on top. The interaction between the optical field and GST is greatly enhanced due to the resonant effect. The GST phase transition is triggered by applying electrical pulses to the doped-silicon microheater. Light is transmitted when GST is amorphous while it is highly absorbed by the crystalline GST at the resonance wavelength, leading to a higher on-off extinction ratio (ER) compared to the non-resonant device. The resonant device achieves a maximum transmission contrast of 10.29 dB and a total of 38 distinct nonvolatile switching levels. Our work provides an effective solution to improving the multilevel switching performance of phase-change devices and paves the way for future nonvolatile silicon photonics devices.

Published in Nanophotonics

ISSN: 2192-8606 (Print); 2192-8614 (Online)
Publisher: De Gruyter
Country of publisher: Germany
LCC subjects: Science: Physics
Website: https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/nanoph/html#submit

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