Improvement of extinction in optically-controlled silicon thermo-optic switch based on micro-ring resonator with distinct probe signal

Abstract

Abstract Herein, an optically-controlled thermo-optic switch based on a micro-ring resonator is proposed and demonstrated. The latter converts pump light to heat using a metal layer close to the waveguides to generate a phase shift based on the thermo-optic effect, thereby realizing the switching operation. By using the probe and pump lights of the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes, respectively, optical absorption is properly designed and an extinction ratio higher than that reported in the previous study is achieved. Further, 10%–90% switching times are measured to be 0.71 μs and 2.66 μs for the rising time and cooling time of temporal response, respectively. The burst-switching measurements reveal an on/off switching ratio of 7.3 dB at the through-port and 7.2 dB at the drop port, with a pump power of 16.8 mW.