Low power 1×4 polymer/SiO2 hybrid waveguide thermo-optic switch

A 1 × 4 thermo-optic switch based on polymer∕SiO2 waveguide has been investigated. The input light can be routed to any of the four output ports by different metal heater control. An asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer is adopted to avoid pre-biasing. Silica bottom-cladding speeds up the process of material refractive index restoration and corresponding switching operation. Finite element method is used to optimize the optical design. The air trench formed on both sides of the active branch reduces the electrical power consumption by 20%. The experimental result demonstrates an extinction ratio of 20 dB at an electrical power consumption of 6 mW. The rise time and fall time are 160 and 80μs, respectively. This work has promising potentials for optical network connections.