Ultracompact programmable silicon photonics using layers of low-loss phase-change material Sb$_2$Se$_3$ of increasing thickness

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Main Authors: Blundell, Sophie, Radford, Thomas, Ajia, Idris A., Lawson, Daniel, Yan, Xingzhao, Banakar, Mehdi, Thomson, David J., Zeimpekis, Ioannis, Muskens, Otto L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Blundell, Sophie
Radford, Thomas
Ajia, Idris A.
Lawson, Daniel
Yan, Xingzhao
Banakar, Mehdi
Thomson, David J.
Zeimpekis, Ioannis
Muskens, Otto L.
author_facet Blundell, Sophie
Radford, Thomas
Ajia, Idris A.
Lawson, Daniel
Yan, Xingzhao
Banakar, Mehdi
Thomson, David J.
Zeimpekis, Ioannis
Muskens, Otto L.
contents High-performance programmable silicon photonic circuits are considered to be a critical part of next generation architectures for optical processing, photonic quantum circuits and neural networks. Low-loss optical phase change materials (PCMs) offer a promising route towards non-volatile free-form control of light. Here, we exploit direct-write digital patterning of waveguides using layers of the PCM Sb$_2$Se$_3$ with a thickness of up to 100 nm, demonstrating the ability to strongly increase the effect per pixel compared to previous implementations where much thinner PCM layers were used. We exploit the excellent refractive index matching between Sb$_2$Se$_3$ and silicon to achieve a low-loss hybrid platform for programmable photonics. A five-fold reduction in modulation length of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is achieved compared to previous work using thin-film Sb$_2$Se$_3$ devices, decreased to 5 $μ$m in this work. Application of the thicker PCM layers in direct-write digital programming of a multimode interferometer (MMI) shows a three-fold reduction of the number of programmed pixels to below 10 pixels per device. The demonstrated scaling of performance with PCM layer thickness is important for establishing the optimum working range for hybrid silicon-PCM devices and holds promise for achieving ultracompact programmable photonic circuits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_12582
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ultracompact programmable silicon photonics using layers of low-loss phase-change material Sb$_2$Se$_3$ of increasing thickness
Blundell, Sophie
Radford, Thomas
Ajia, Idris A.
Lawson, Daniel
Yan, Xingzhao
Banakar, Mehdi
Thomson, David J.
Zeimpekis, Ioannis
Muskens, Otto L.
Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
High-performance programmable silicon photonic circuits are considered to be a critical part of next generation architectures for optical processing, photonic quantum circuits and neural networks. Low-loss optical phase change materials (PCMs) offer a promising route towards non-volatile free-form control of light. Here, we exploit direct-write digital patterning of waveguides using layers of the PCM Sb$_2$Se$_3$ with a thickness of up to 100 nm, demonstrating the ability to strongly increase the effect per pixel compared to previous implementations where much thinner PCM layers were used. We exploit the excellent refractive index matching between Sb$_2$Se$_3$ and silicon to achieve a low-loss hybrid platform for programmable photonics. A five-fold reduction in modulation length of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is achieved compared to previous work using thin-film Sb$_2$Se$_3$ devices, decreased to 5 $μ$m in this work. Application of the thicker PCM layers in direct-write digital programming of a multimode interferometer (MMI) shows a three-fold reduction of the number of programmed pixels to below 10 pixels per device. The demonstrated scaling of performance with PCM layer thickness is important for establishing the optimum working range for hybrid silicon-PCM devices and holds promise for achieving ultracompact programmable photonic circuits.
title Ultracompact programmable silicon photonics using layers of low-loss phase-change material Sb$_2$Se$_3$ of increasing thickness
topic Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.12582