A 16 x 16 Non-Volatile Silicon Photonic Switch Circuit

A 16x16 silicon photonic switch circuit suitable for non-volatile operations has been realized. The switch circuit consists of dilated switch elements with liquid-controlled adiabatic waveguide couplers. The switch with a cross-bar architecture is compatible with a non-volatile electrowetting-on-dielectric system for optical actuation. The measured fiber-to-fiber loss is less than 18.9 dB over the wavelength range from 1500 to 1630 nm. At a wavelength of 1550 nm, the loss is between 8.5 and 17.4 dB depending on the length of the light path. The crosstalk of the switch is better than -50 dB over the wavelength range from 1500 to 1630 nm.