Fast response 2x2 thermo-optic switch with polymer/silica hybrid waveguide

A polymer/silica hybrid 2x2 multimode-interference Mach-Zehnder interferometer thermo-optic (TO) switch is designed and fabricated. Instead of polymer, silica is used as under-cladding to accelerate heat release because of its large thermal conductivity. The developed switch exhibits low power consumption of 6.2 mW, low crosstalk of about -28 dB, and short response time. The rise and fall times of 103 and 91 mu s for this hybrid switch are shortened by 40.8% and 52.4%, respectively, compared with those of the fabricated TO switch (174 and 191 mu s) using polymer as both upper- and under-claddings.