Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are crucial for advanced applications in telecommunications, quantum computing, and biomedical fields. Silicon nitride (SiN)-based platforms are promising for PICs due to their transparency, low optical loss, and thermal stability. However, achieving efficient the...
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2025-02-01
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| author | Dimitris V. Bellas Eleftheria Lampadariou George Dabos Ioannis Vangelidis Laurent Markey Jean-Claude Weeber Nikos Pleros Elefterios Lidorikis |
| author_facet | Dimitris V. Bellas Eleftheria Lampadariou George Dabos Ioannis Vangelidis Laurent Markey Jean-Claude Weeber Nikos Pleros Elefterios Lidorikis |
| author_sort | Dimitris V. Bellas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are crucial for advanced applications in telecommunications, quantum computing, and biomedical fields. Silicon nitride (SiN)-based platforms are promising for PICs due to their transparency, low optical loss, and thermal stability. However, achieving efficient thermo-optic (TO) modulation on SiN remains challenging due to limited reconfigurability and high power requirements. This study aims to optimize TO phase shifters on SiN platforms to enhance power efficiency, reduce device footprint, and minimize insertion losses. We introduce a CMOS-compatible plasmo-photonic TO phase shifter using a SiOC material layer with a high TO coefficient combined with aluminum heaters on a SiN platform. We evaluate four interferometer architectures—symmetric and asymmetric Mach–Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs), an MZI with a ring resonator, and a single-arm design—through opto-thermal simulations to refine performance across power, losses, footprint, and switching speed metrics. The asymmetric MZI with ring resonator (A-MZI-RR) architecture demonstrated superior performance, with minimal power consumption (1.6 mW), low insertion loss (2.8 dB), and reduced length (14.4 μm), showing a favorable figure of merit compared to existing solutions. The optimized SiN-based TO switches show enhanced efficiency and compactness, supporting their potential for scalable, energy-efficient PICs suited to high-performance photonic applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eaba35d2740849faa449f29a1480bd5e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj-art-eaba35d2740849faa449f29a1480bd5e2025-08-20T03:12:19ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912025-02-0115429610.3390/nano15040296Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-PhotonicsDimitris V. Bellas0Eleftheria Lampadariou1George Dabos2Ioannis Vangelidis3Laurent Markey4Jean-Claude Weeber5Nikos Pleros6Elefterios Lidorikis7Department of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (LICB) UMR 6303, Université de Bourgogne, 9 av. A Savary, BP47870, 21078 Dijon, CEDEX, FranceLaboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (LICB) UMR 6303, Université de Bourgogne, 9 av. A Savary, BP47870, 21078 Dijon, CEDEX, FranceDepartment of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreecePhotonic integrated circuits (PICs) are crucial for advanced applications in telecommunications, quantum computing, and biomedical fields. Silicon nitride (SiN)-based platforms are promising for PICs due to their transparency, low optical loss, and thermal stability. However, achieving efficient thermo-optic (TO) modulation on SiN remains challenging due to limited reconfigurability and high power requirements. This study aims to optimize TO phase shifters on SiN platforms to enhance power efficiency, reduce device footprint, and minimize insertion losses. We introduce a CMOS-compatible plasmo-photonic TO phase shifter using a SiOC material layer with a high TO coefficient combined with aluminum heaters on a SiN platform. We evaluate four interferometer architectures—symmetric and asymmetric Mach–Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs), an MZI with a ring resonator, and a single-arm design—through opto-thermal simulations to refine performance across power, losses, footprint, and switching speed metrics. The asymmetric MZI with ring resonator (A-MZI-RR) architecture demonstrated superior performance, with minimal power consumption (1.6 mW), low insertion loss (2.8 dB), and reduced length (14.4 μm), showing a favorable figure of merit compared to existing solutions. The optimized SiN-based TO switches show enhanced efficiency and compactness, supporting their potential for scalable, energy-efficient PICs suited to high-performance photonic applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/4/296photonic integrated circuitssilicon nitride photonic platformsilicon oxycarbidethermo-optic switcherplasmonic–photonic interferometermultimode interference |
| spellingShingle | Dimitris V. Bellas Eleftheria Lampadariou George Dabos Ioannis Vangelidis Laurent Markey Jean-Claude Weeber Nikos Pleros Elefterios Lidorikis Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics Nanomaterials photonic integrated circuits silicon nitride photonic platform silicon oxycarbide thermo-optic switcher plasmonic–photonic interferometer multimode interference |
| title | Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics |
| title_full | Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics |
| title_fullStr | Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics |
| title_short | Theoretical Analysis of Efficient Thermo-Optic Switching on Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Waveguide Platform Using SiOC-Based Plasmo-Photonics |
| title_sort | theoretical analysis of efficient thermo optic switching on si sub 3 sub n sub 4 sub waveguide platform using sioc based plasmo photonics |
| topic | photonic integrated circuits silicon nitride photonic platform silicon oxycarbide thermo-optic switcher plasmonic–photonic interferometer multimode interference |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/4/296 |
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