Theoretical analysis on the switching speed and driving power dissipation for optical switch based on VO2 thin film

Optical switches based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin film have emerged as potential candidates for deployment in future optical transport networks, where switching speed and driving power dissipation will become increasingly important. This paper reviews the basic working principle of optical switch based on VO2 thin film, and gives out the physical thermal model for optical switch based on VO2 thin film, according to which the driving power dissipation and switching speed expressions of the optical switch are obtained in theory. These two theoretical expressions reveal some key factors determining the minimum necessary driving power dissipation and maximum switching speed and theoretically point the direction to reduce the necessary driving power dissipation of optical switch and improve the switching speed of this kind of it.