Optimal design and analysis of a high-speed, low-voltage polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch

Detailed model, analysis and design technique are presented for simulating a high-speed polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) electro-optic switch with push-pull dual driving electrodes and rib waveguides. The novel formulas of the time-domain response are derived. Thorough optimization and simulation for the designed device are performed. The total length of the basic function unit of the switch is about 5049 μm, the push-pull switching voltage is 2.23 V, the switching time is 18.1 ps, and the insertion loss and crosstalk are less than 2.64 and −30 dB, respectively, within the range of the operation wavelength from 1534 to 1566 nm. These results are in good agreement with those obtained from the beam propagation method (BPM).     

Analysis of polymer electro-optic microring resonator switches

The structure and the principle for the polymer electro-optic microring resonator (MRR) switch are proposed as well as the transfer functions. The structural parameters are optimized; the transmission characteristics are analyzed including the output power, switching time, switching voltage, insertion loss, and crosstalk. When the operation voltage is 0 V, the insertion loss and crosstalk are ∼1.2 and −20.2 dB, respectively; when the operation voltage is 10.0 V, those are ∼0.35 and −20.0 dB, respectively. Furthermore, a novel method is presented for analyzing time-domain response of the device and the switching time is determined to be ∼10.71 ps. These results indicate the favorable switching functions of the designed device.     

Skin-effect analysis of a shielded polymer Y-fed coupler electro-optic modulator over a wide bandwidth of 94 GHz

A novel technique and related formulations are proposed for analyzing the influences of the skin-effect on the performances of a polymer Y-fed coupler electro-optic modulator with shielded push-pull micro-strip electrodes. Using the extended point-matching method, coupled mode theory and electro-optic modulation theory, thorough design and optimization are performed. By introducing the effective applied voltage, formulas of the high-frequency response under skin-effect are deduced, and characteristics under skin-effect are analyzed. Under the central wavelength of 1550 nm, the half-wave voltage is as low as 1.097 V for the device with an active region length about 8.884 mm. Considering the influences of the skin-effect, the 3-dB modulating bandwidth of the microwave signal is up to 94 GHz. A high extinction ratio of more than 20 dB and a low insertion loss of less than 4.18 dB are achieved when the microwave frequency is below 68 GHz under skin-effect. This design technique is proven to be accurate by the comparison with the beam propagation method (BPM).     

Simulation and optimization of a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with push-pull electrodes

Structural model and design technique are proposed for a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with rib waveguides and push-pull electrodes, of which the electric field distribution is analyzed by the conformal transforming method and image method. In order to get the minimum mode loss and the minimum switching voltage, the parameters of the waveguide and electrode are optimized, such as the core with, core thickness, buffer layer between the core and the electrode, coupling gap between the waveguides, electrode thickness, electrode width and electrode gap. Switching Characteristics are analyzed, which include the output power, insertion loss, and crosstalk. To realize normal switching function, the fabrication error, spectrum shift, and coupling loss between a single mode fiber (SMF) and the waveguide are discussed. Simulation results show that the coupling length is 3082 μm, push-pull switching voltage is 2.14 V, insertion loss is less than 1.17 dB, and crosstalk is less than −30 dB for the designed device.     

Analysis on skin-effect of a polymer shielded push–pull directional coupler electro-optic switch

By using the extended point-matching method, coupled mode theory, and electro-optic modulation theory, design and optimization are carried out for a polymer shielded push–pull directional coupler electro-optic switch. A novel technique and the relative formulas are presented for analyzing the influences of the skin-effect on the microwave characteristic parameters and the switching performances. Simulation results show that the voltages of the cross- and bar-states are 0 and ±2.93 V, respectively, and the coupling length is 4.139 mm. Considering the influences of the skin-effect, the cutoff switching frequency is 172 GHz, the insertion loss is in the range of 1.920–1.975 dB, the crosstalk is less than ?20 dB, and the switching time is 31.18–31.40 ps within the range of the switching frequency from 0.72 to 172 GHz. The designed switch exhibits superior characteristics including good impedance match, low switching voltage, and high cutoff switching frequency.     

反相电极聚合物定向耦合电光开关的优化设计

为了消除单节电极定向耦合电光开关的工艺误差对器件性能的不良影响,应用耦合模理论、电光调制理论、保角变换及镜像法,优化设计了一种两节交替反相电极聚合物定向耦合电光开关.模拟结果表明,该器件具有良好的开关性能:在1 550 nm的工作波长下,器件耦合区的长度为4 753.5 μm,交叉态电压为1.22 V,直通态电压为2.65 V,插入损耗小于2.21 dB,串扰小于-30 dB.通过微调状态电压,可以很容易地消除工艺误差对器件性能产生的不良影响.本文方法的设计结果与光束传播法的仿真结果符合得很好.     

1×|N 信道聚合物微环谐振器电光开关阵列的开关特性

利用耦合模理论、电光调制理论和微环谐振理论,提出了一个完善合理的聚合物微环谐振器电光开关阵列模型.该器件由1条水平信道、N条竖直信道和N个微环构成,在微环上施加不同方式的驱动电压,可以实现N＋1条信道的开关功能.以1×8信道结构为例,在1 550 nm谐振波长下对该器件进行了优化设计和模拟分析.其结果是：微环波导芯的截面尺寸为1.7×1.7 μm2,波导芯与电极间的缓冲层厚度为2.5 μm,电极厚度为0.2 μm,微环半径为13.76 μm,微环与信道间的耦合间距为0.14 μm,输出光谱的3 dB带宽约为0.05 nm,开关电压约为12.6 V,插入损耗约为0.67~1.26 dB,串扰小于－20 dB,开关时间约为11.35 ps.     

Design of a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch using two-section reversed electrodes

By using the coupled mode theory, electro-optic modulation theory, conformal transforming method and image method, the structure is designed, the parameters are optimized, and the characteristics are analyzed for a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with two-section reversed electrodes. Simulation shows that the designed device exhibits excellent switching functions. Under the operation wavelength of 1550 nm, the electro-optic coupling region length is 4751 μm, the cross-state and bar-state voltages are about 1.22 and 2.65 V, and the insertion loss and crosstalk are less than 2.21 and −30 dB, respectively. By slightly adjusting the state voltages, the blight of the fabrication errors on the switching characteristics can be easily eliminated. The calculation results of the presented technique are in good agreement with those of the beam propagation method (BPM).     

Design of wide-spectrum polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switches using two symmetric N-th order phase-generating couplers

To enlarge the output spectrum, a novel reasonable structure of one kind of Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) electro-optic (EO) switches containing two symmetric N-th order phase generating couplers (PGCs) is presented, and thorough model, analysis and design technique are proposed. A non-linear least square method is investigated for optimizing the PGC structure to eliminate the phase difference error caused by the wavelength variation. Under the central wavelength of 1550 nm, optimization and simulation are performed on three MZI EO switches using two first, second and third order PGCs, respectively. The switches exhibit a low switching voltage of 1.156 V with an active region length of 4 mm. The output spectrums covering the whole S-C-L bands are as wide as 320, 390 and more than 435 nm, respectively, the insertion loss are less than 5.57, 5.98 and 7.90 dB, respectively, and the crosstalk is less than −30 dB over the wide wavelength ranges, for the three designed switches. The design technique is supported to be feasible by the comparison with beam propagation method (BPM).     

Investigation on push-pull polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switches using improved 3-D mode propagation analysis method

By introducing normalized mode excitation coefficient and total mode excitation coefficient, we improve the 3-D mode propagation analysis (MPA) method for convenient design and analysis of multimode interference (MMI) coupler. With the improved 3-D MPA method and point-matching method, we present a novel formulation technique to analyze the low- and high-frequency characteristics for the impedance-matched polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic (EO) switch based on MMI couplers. As an application, under 1550 nm, optimization and simulation performed for the designed device reveal low driving voltage of 1.375 V with short EO region length of 5 mm. The insertion loss and extinction ratio are less than 3.75 dB and more than 42 dB, respectively. The microwave characteristic impedance is about 49.6 Ω, and due to the less mismatch between lightwave velocity and microwave velocity, the estimated cutoff switching frequency is up to 263 GHz with the 10–90% rise time and fall time about 1.90 ps under the operation of step-style square-wave switching signal. This theoretical cutoff switching frequency is almost 1.53 times of that of our previous reported shielded EO switch with similar design technique.     

Fourier analysis of a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with two-section cosine-transitive CPWG electrodes: A new theoretical view

By using two-section cosine-transitive coplanar waveguide grounded (CPWG) electrodes, a polymer directional coupler (DC) electro-optic (EO) switch is optimally designed with both relaxed fabrication tolerance under cross-state and high switching speed over 100 GHz. As a new theoretical view, based on Fourier transformation, a Fourier analysis technique and related formulas are presented with respect to the time- and frequency-domain responses under high-speed modulating and switching operations. Under 1550 nm, the bar- and cross-state voltages are 0 and 2.669 V, respectively, for the switch with a total length of 8378 μm. The insertion loss and crosstalk are less than 3.887 and ? 30 dB, respectively. The 3-dB modulating bandwidth and cutoff switching frequency are about 110 and 131.6 GHz, respectively, and the 10–90% rise time and fall time are both about 3.80 ps. Owning to this configuration, its cutoff switching frequency is enhanced to 9 times of that of our previously reported EO switch with two-section separated reversed electrodes, which expands the ultra-high speed and large capacity applications for such switches. The proposed Fourier analysis method can also be adopted to evaluate the responses under the operation of any other form driving signals with Fourier transformation.     

High-speed compact silicon digital optical switch with slot structure

A high-speed compact silicon digital optical switch (DOS) is proposed in this paper. The direct electro-optic effect is applied by filling electro-optic polymer in the void slot of the branches, which compensates the limitation of silicon itself. The crosstalk of about 35 dB and the insertion loss of 0.7 dB is obtained, the switching speed is less than 1 ps, and the whole device length can be shortened to 616 μm even using the basic mode-evolving principle and a simple Y-type structure. Analysis also shows that the device has good fabrication tolerance and wavelength independence over the C-band.     

A very compact Mach-Zehnder interferometer with left-handed material

A very compact Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) composed of two parallel straight waveguides with left-handed material (LHM) layers is proposed. The operating principle and characteristics of the MZI with electro-optic material (EOM) core are analyzed by using the supermode theory and coupled mode theory. The result shows that regardless of material loss, a very compact MZI of only 0.87 mm × 0.022 mm can be achieved by utilizing EOM with ultrahigh electro-optic coefficient, which means a new way to fulfill a very compact electro-optic modulator or optical switch. The absorption effect of the proposed MZI is also analyzed by perturbation method which is generated by lossy LHM layers.     

Exchange-coupled perpendicular media

The potential of exchange spring bilayers and graded media is reviewed. An analytical model for the optimization of graded media gives an optimal value of the magnetic polarization of J_s=0.8 T. The optimum design allows for thermally stable grains with grain diameters in the order of 3.3 nm, which supports ultra-high density up to 5-10 Tbit/in². The switching field distribution is significantly reduced in bilayer media and graded media compared to single-phase media. For the graded media the switching field distribution is reduced by about a factor of two. For bilayer media the minimum switching field distribution is obtained for soft-layer anisotropies that are about one fifth of the hard-layer anisotropy. The influence of precessional switching on the reversal time and the reversal field is investigated in detail for magnetic bilayers. Exchange spring bilayers can be reversed with field pulses of 20 ps.     

Study of the switching phenomena of TlGaS2 single crystals

Single crystals of TlGaS₂ were prepared by a special modified Bridgman technique and used to investigate the switching phenomena. The particular interest shown in switching studies of p-type TlGaS₂ compound is associated with the possibility of its uses as an effective switching and memory elements in electronic devices. The switching effect observed in such crystal shows a memory character. Using a crystal holder and cryostat we measured the switching phenomenon at different ambient conditions such as temperature, light illumination as well as sample thickness. Pronounced parameters for switching for sample of thickness 0.17 cm were determined from the experimental data such as threshold voltage V_th = 400 V, threshold current I_th = 37 μA, holding voltage V_h = 350 V, holding current I_h = 42.3 × 10⁻⁴ A, threshold power P_th = 1.48 × 10⁻² W, threshold field E_th = 196.429 V/cm as well as the ratio between the resistance in the off state R_OFF to the resistance in the conducting state R_ON as 130.253. The factors affecting these parameters have also been investigated.     

Electro-optic polymer assisted optical switch based on silicon slot structure

One kind of electro-optic polymer assisted Mach-Zehnder optical switch based on silicon slot structure is presented in this paper. The interference arms of the switch are slot structures instead of regular single-mode waveguides. By filling electro-optic material in the void slot of the arms, direct electro-optic modulation can be introduced. Theoretical model and detailed analysis are given in this paper. The length-independent product V_πL is about 74 mV cm when slot width is 100 nm, and 37 mV cm when slot width is 50 nm, when the polymer with a electro-optical coefficient of γ₃₃ = 130 pm/V is assisted. An ultralow energy consumption of only 37 fJ/bit is achievable, and the turn-on time of the switch is less than 1.5 ps.     

Optical broadband analog-digital conversion on the base of microring resonator

We propose the fast method of analog-digital conversion of optical signals by the use of waveguide ring resonators of micron size. The results of calculation are presented which allow optimization of the parameters of such optical analog-digital converter (ADC) for specific applications. Conversion operating speed of the ADC proposed is limited by the time of steady output signal establishing. For microresonator of 10 μm radius this time is about 10 ps. Analysis of the proposed optical method of analog-digital conversion shows that such optical ADC is capable to operate with the conversion frequency above 10⁹ counts/s in a broad spectral range. Optical loss in resonator reduces its switching time. However, the switching contrast also decreases. To keep the switching contrast constant it is necessary to increase discretization step of the analog signal power.     

Polymeric Multimode Interference Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Electro-Optic Switch Using Embedded Coplanar Waveguide Electrode: Theory,Design, and Analysis

Abstract

The self-imaging theory is improved for designing a polymer multimode interference Mach–Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch. The electro-optic overlap factor is enhanced from 0.6510 to 0.9658 through adopting an embedded coplanar waveguide electrode. Considering the mode dispersion effect, formulations of time-domain response are derived, and switching characteristics are analyzed. The total device length is about 7.175 mm, the switching voltage is 2.622 V, and the switching time is 29.90 ps. The lightwave 3-dB bandwidth is 20 nm, the insertion loss is less than 2.70 dB, and the crosstalk under cross and bar states are less than ?55 dB and ?45 dB, respectively.     

Ultrafast mode switching based on a micro-ring laser

Injection locking and multi-mode switching characteristics of a semiconductor ring laser with the radius of 10 μm are investigated based on a nonlinear time domain multimode rate-equation model. The stable injection locking regions for different target modes are studied as the function of detuning frequency and injection power ratio. The results show that ultra-wide detuning range of ∼100 GHz wide at 5 dB injection power ratio and ultra-low switching power ratio of −27 dB can be realized for this micro-ring laser device. Optimal detuning value and high injection power lead to the minimal switching time. An ultrafast response time of 10 ps indicates that a 10 μm-radius SRL can be utilized for ultrafast all-optical scenarios and high-speed tunable lasers.     

Electro-optical features of antiferroelectric liquid crystal material (S)-(+)-4-(1-methylheptyloxycarbonyl) phenyl 4′-(6-octanoyloxyhex-1-oxy) biphenyl-4-carboxylate in its ferro and antiferroelectric phases

A detailed investigation of the electro-optical switching parameters of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal (S)-(+)-4-(1-methylheptyloxycarbonyl) phenyl 4′-(6-octanoyloxyhex-1-oxy) biphenyl-4-carboxylate (abbreviated as S-7H6Bi) has been carried out. S-7H6Bi has paraelectric (SmA^?) and ferroelectric (SmC^?) phases in addition to antiferroelectric (SmC^?_A) phase. Switching parameters viz. spontaneous polarization and switching time were determined by polarization reversal method. The spontaneous polarization (P_s) is found to be highly temperature dependent and decreases with temperature. The maximum value of P_s is found to be ∼90 nC/cm² whereas the switching time (t_s) is found to be of the order 1-2 ms. The temperature dependent torsional viscosity (γ_t) is of the order 10 Pa sec. It increases with decrease in temperature.