On-chip programmable optical routing using nonvolatile Sb2Se3 phase-change metasurfaces

Abstract

Interferometer meshes are underpinning many new technologies for fully programmable optical circuits; however, their large footprint restricts their scalability. Our investigations demonstrated a new approach for on-chip programmable optical routing based on integrated one-dimensional Sb2Se3 phase change metasurfaces on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. In the presented scheme, silicon functions as the light guide and Sb2Se3 provides the means for reconfigurability. Reconfiguration is achieved by the dynamic control over the refractive index of Sb2Se3 by selectively adjusting the crystalline phase of Sb2Se3. With a device footprint of 28µmx50μm, the proposed router is more compact than Mach-Zehnder interferometer meshes, while providing a foundry compatible, nonvolatile and broadband reconfigurable paradigm for programmable optical flow control.