https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023801007
Enhanced efficiency thermo-optic phase-shifter by using multi-mode-interference device
Optoelectronic Research Centre, University of Southampton, England
* Corresponding author: bharat.pant@soton.ac.uk
Published online: 20 August 2020
We demonstrate a method for power reduction in thermo-optic based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) by using the multimode region of a 2x2 Multi-Mode-Interferometer (MMI) as the modulation region. The light is circulated through the same multimode region twice and therefore utilizes the already present change in temperature leading to additional phase change, and an increase in efficiency. Power saving of 29.6% compared to a conventional thermo-optic phase shifter using single mode waveguides has been experimentally demonstrated. The reported devices show minimal insertion loss penalty compared to generic devices and do not add any additional fabrication complexity. Such an approach could also be applied to higher speed devices, for example those employing free carrier effects.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
