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Electro-optical switching at 1550 nm using a two-state GeSe phase-change layer

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Abstract

New designs for electro-optical free-space and waveguided 2 x 2 switches are presented and analyzed at the 1.55 μm telecoms wavelength. The proposed devices employ a ~10 nm film of GeSe that is electrically actuated to transition the layer forth-and-back from the amorphous to the crystal phase, yielding a switch with two self-sustaining states. This phase change material was selected for its very low absorption loss at the operation wavelength, along with its electro-refraction Δn ~0.6. All switches are cascadeable into N x M devices. The free-space prism-shaped structures use III-V prism material to match the GeSe crystal index. The Si/GeSe/Si “active waveguides” are quite suitable for directional-coupler switches as well as Mach-Zehnder devices—all of which have an active length 16x less than that in the free-carrier art.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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