Analysis and design optimization of a hybrid VO2/Silicon 2x2 microring switch

Abstract

The metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) property of vanadium dioxide (VO2) has been recently used in several application fields like plasmonics, sensing, metamaterials and optical modulation. Due to the MIT nature, VO2 allows a huge change in its complex refractive index that can be electro-optically controlled. In this work, the analysis and design optimization of a 2x2 microring switch based on a hybrid VO2/silicon waveguide structure is addressed. Switching is achieved by exploiting the change in both absorption loss and phase shift that occurs in the VO2 when changing from the insulating to the metallic state. The device is optimized to minimize insertion losses and crosstalk. An active length of only 2.8µm is required to achieve a data throughput rate higher than 500Gbps at a single optical wavelength.