Design of an integrated optical switch based on liquid crystal infiltration

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics 2005-09, Vol.41 (9), p.1197-1202
• Main Authors: Riboli, F., Daldosso, N., Pucker, G., Lui, A., Pavesi, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Blocking; Circuit properties; CMOS; CMOS integrated circuits; Design optimization; Devices; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fabry-PÉrot resonators; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Geometrical optics; Holes; Infiltration; Integrated optics; Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Liquid crystals; liquid crystals (LCs); Liquid waveguides; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; Optical computers, logic elements, interconnects, switches; neural networks; Optical design; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optical switches; Optical switching; Optical waveguides; Optics; Optimization; Physics; Resonance; Silicon on insulator technology; waveguides; Waveguides, couplers, and arrays
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2005.853363

We present the design and simulation of a novel Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot optical switch based on liquid crystal infiltration integrated in a high index-contrast silicon-on-insulator waveguide. Careful optimization of the cavity geometry allows designing a device with a resonance peak transmission of 95% and a resonance peak linewidth of 1.7 nm. This kind of device is designed to be fully CMOS compatible and can be used as a building block of a more complex integrated optical circuit.