Silicon photonics is considered a very promising technology, primarily due to its potential for large-scale integration of optical and electrical devices in small footprints and the ability to leverage existing CMOS processes.  The technology could prove invaluable in a wide range of applications, including conventional long-distance communications, inter- and intra-chip interconnects, and optical sensors.

One of the long-standing challenges has been the development of reconfigurable devices to access independent communication channels without affecting intermediate ones.  In this work, a proof-of-concept for a new and entirely CMOS compatible thermo-optic reconfigurable switch based on a coupled ring resonator structure is experimentally demonstrated.

Preliminary results show that a single optical device is capable of combining multiple  functionalities, such as tunable filtering, non-blocking switching and reconfigurability in a single device with a compact, 50μm x 30μm footprint.

References

1. Fegadolli, W., Vargas, G., Wang, X., Valini, F., Barea, L.A.M., Oliveira, J.E.B., Frateschi, N., Scherer, A., Almeida, V.R., Panepucci, R.R. (2012). Reconfigurable Silicon Thermo-Optic Ring Resonator Switch Based on Vernier Effect Control. Optics Express, 20(13), 14722-14733