Stable non-volatile phase modulation with antimony-based phase shifter on a broadband silicon nitride platform

Abstract

Silicon-based photonics is a leading platform for scalable and low-power photonic integrated circuits (PICs). However, conventional modulation methods suffer from high power consumption and volatility, particularly when using the silicon nitride platform. Phase change materials (PCMs) provide a compelling alternative, enabling nonvolatile and low-loss switching with a high refractive index contrast (Δn). In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the integration of an n-doped polysilicon microheater to induce phase transitions in antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) on a silicon nitride (SiNx) platform in the C-band. The device utilizes controlled electrical pulses to achieve a phase shift of 0.43π by switching Sb2Se3 between its amorphous and crystalline states over 7900 cycles, with an extinction ratio of up to 12.5 dB and a variation of ±1.9 dB over the entire 7900 cycles. These results highlight the potential scalability of this approach for broadband photonic switching applications that require nonvolatile functionality.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Afrooz Shoaa: orcid.org/0000-0002-3095-9808

ORCID for Thalia Dominguez Bucio: orcid.org/0000-0002-3664-1403

ORCID for Isaac Johnson: orcid.org/0009-0008-4010-6594

ORCID for Ioannis Zeimpekis: orcid.org/0000-0002-7455-1599

ORCID for Frederic Gardes: orcid.org/0000-0003-1400-3272

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