• PhotoniX
  • Vol. 3, Issue 1, 26 (2022)
Carlos Ríos1、2、†,*, Qingyang Du3、†,**, Yifei Zhang4, Cosmin-Constantin Popescu4, Mikhail Y. Shalaginov4, Paul Miller5, Christopher Roberts5, Myungkoo Kang6, Kathleen A. Richardson6、7, Tian Gu4、8, Steven A. Vitale5、†,***, and Juejun Hu4、8
Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park MD, USA
  • 2Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park MD, USA
  • 3Research Center for Intelligent Optoelectronic Computing, Zhejiang Lab, 311121 Hangzhou, China
  • 4Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA, USA
  • 5Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington MA, USA
  • 6The College of Optics & Photonics, CREOL, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL, USA
  • 7Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL, USA
  • 8Materials Research Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA, USA
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    DOI: 10.1186/s43074-022-00070-4 Cite this Article
    Carlos Ríos, Qingyang Du, Yifei Zhang, Cosmin-Constantin Popescu, Mikhail Y. Shalaginov, Paul Miller, Christopher Roberts, Myungkoo Kang, Kathleen A. Richardson, Tian Gu, Steven A. Vitale, Juejun Hu. Ultra-compact nonvolatile phase shifter based on electrically reprogrammable transparent phase change materials[J]. PhotoniX, 2022, 3(1): 26 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Optical phase shifters constitute the fundamental building blocks that enable programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs)—the cornerstone of on-chip classical and quantum optical technologies [1, 2]. Thus far, carrier modulation and thermo-optical effect are the chosen phenomena for ultrafast and low-loss phase shifters, respectively; however, the state and information they carry are lost once the power is turned off—they are volatile. The volatility not only compromises energy efficiency due to their demand for constant power supply, but also precludes them from emerging applications such as in-memory computing. To circumvent this limitation, we introduce a phase shifting mechanism that exploits the nonvolatile refractive index modulation upon structural phase transition of Sb2Se3, a bi-state transparent phase change material (PCM). A zero-static power and electrically-driven phase shifter is realized on a CMOS-backend silicon-on-insulator platform, featuring record phase modulation up to 0.09 π/µm and a low insertion loss of 0.3 dB/π, which can be further improved upon streamlined design. Furthermore, we demonstrate phase and extinction ratio trimming of ring resonators and pioneer a one-step partial amorphization scheme to enhance speed and energy efficiency of PCM devices. A diverse cohort of programmable photonic devices is demonstrated based on the ultra-compact PCM phase shifter.
    Carlos Ríos, Qingyang Du, Yifei Zhang, Cosmin-Constantin Popescu, Mikhail Y. Shalaginov, Paul Miller, Christopher Roberts, Myungkoo Kang, Kathleen A. Richardson, Tian Gu, Steven A. Vitale, Juejun Hu. Ultra-compact nonvolatile phase shifter based on electrically reprogrammable transparent phase change materials[J]. PhotoniX, 2022, 3(1): 26
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