944
7, APRIL 1, 2012
Broadband Mach–Zehnder Switch for Photonic
Networks on Chip
Giovanna Calò, Student Member, IEEE, Antonella D’Orazio, Member, IEEE, Member, OSA, and
Vincenzo Petruzzelli
Abstract—In this paper, we propose a broadband silicon
Mach–Zehnder switch (MZS) for wavelength division multi-
plexing applications on photonic networks on chip. The proposed
reconfigurable switch is based on a single-stage three-waveguide
interferometric configuration in which the phase shift is achieved
via a p-i-n diode. The device is analyzed by the coupled-mode
theory and by the finite-difference beam propagation method.
The proposed configuration leads to a considerable increase in the
bandwidth with respect to the conventional MZS. For example,
the two-waveguide MZS with a gap m between the two
coupled waveguides exhibits bandwidth nm, crosstalk
dB, and insertion loss dB. Conversely, a
bandwidth nm is achieved for the three-waveguide
configuration to parity of the other parameters.
Index Terms—Integrated optics devices, optical switching de-
vices, optical networks on chip, silicon photonics.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HANKS to the progress in silicon-based nanotechnology,
the integration of photonic networks on chip (NoC) in
chip multiprocessors (CMP) has become particularly promising
to overcome the performance limitations of electrical intercon-
nects. Photonic networks play a fundamental role for enhancing
the performance of the overall system since they can allow the
data to be efficiently exchanged within the CMP or between dif-
ferent chips [1].
The future CMPs exploiting the optical transmission are ex-
pected to reach the Tb/s data rate. In this context, it appears
a fundamental issue the implementation of wavelength divi-
sion multiplexing (WDM) schemes in photonic NoC, since the
WDM allows the parallel transmission of multiple channels,
each associated with a different wavelength, on the same wave-
guide. In this way, the overall data rate depends on both the in-
dividual optical channel rate and the number of channels which
can be contemporarily transmitted through the photonic NoC.
Manuscript received October 18, 2011; revised December 02, 2011; accepted
January 11, 2012. Date of publication January 17, 2012; date of current version
February 24, 2012. This work was supported by the Photonic Interconnect Tech-
nology for Chip Multiprocessing Architectures (PHOTONICA) Project under
the Fondo per gli Investimenti della Ricerca di Base 2008 (FIRB) Program,
funded by the Italian government and by the Project “Regional laboratory for
synthesis and characterization of new organic and nanostructured materials for
electronics, photonics, and advanced technologies” funded by the Apulia Re-
gion. This research was conducted in the framework of the European Coopera-
tion in Science and Technology (COST) Action MP0805.
The authors are with the Dipartimento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica,
Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy (e-mail: g.calo@deemail.poliba.it;
dorazio@poliba.it; petruzzelli@poliba.it).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JLT.2012.2184739
0733-8724/$31.00 © 2012 IEEE
JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO.
Among the other components necessary to the WDM trans-
mission, such as multiplexers/demultiplexers [2], multiwave-
length filters [3], modulators [4]–[8], etc., the key component
for the photonic NoC is the switching element which represents
the basic building block to be arranged in switching matrixes,
capable of contemporarily routing the WDM channels between
the multiple processing cores.
The data rate of each individual optical channel is mainly
related to the device configuration (i.e., forward biased p-i-n
diode, MOS capacitor, reverse-biased p-n junction, etc.) in-
volved to achieve the switching mechanism, which is generally
based on the silicon refractive index variation induced by the
plasma dispersion effect. In particular, p-i-n diode [4], [5] as
well as MOS [6] based modulators were demonstrated to reach
the 10-Gb/s speed. Moreover, higher data rates, i.e., 30 and 40
Gb/s, were obtained with reversely biased p-n junctions [7], [8].
Given the individual optical channel data rate, the imple-
mentation of the WDM transmission on optical NoCs is mainly
constrained by the bandwidth of the switching elements. Dif-
ferent design approaches were reported in the literature. For
example, the simultaneous switching of 20 continuous-wave
wavelength channels with nanosecond transition times was
demonstrated in a ring-resonator-based switching configura-
tion [9]. Moreover, nonresonant switches based on multistage
Mach–Zehnder interferometers were designed and fabricated,
showing a 110-nm bandwidth suitable to switch 55 coarsely
spaced channels (with 2-nm channel spacing) [10]. In addition,
multisection Mach–Zehnder switches (MZSs) were designed
to achieve an even broader bandwidth of 250 nm by using
apodized coupling coefficients and by the combination of
passive and of active phase shifters [11].
Here, we focus on the improvement of the bandwidth of op-
tical switches based on a single-stage Mach–Zehnder interfer-
ometer configuration. The proposed device exploits two cou-
pling sections, each made of three-waveguide couplers, with an
interposed p-i-n diode phase-shifting region.
Three-waveguide couplers have been proved advantageous
in many applications. For example, they have been exploited
to achieve wide flattened bandwidth in power splitters [12], to
optimize half-wave couplers for coupled-cavity laser with high
single-mode selectivity and wide wavelength tunability [13] or
to realize polarization-independent power splitters [14].
The proposed single-stage MZS configuration, based on
three-waveguide couplers, succeeds in broadening the band-
width with respect to the conventional two-waveguide MZS
configuration, which is analyzed in the first part of this paper.
The proposed scheme leads to extremely simple but yet effec-
CALÒ et al.: BROADBAND MACH–ZEHNDER SWITCH FOR PHOTONIC NETWORKS ON CHIP 945

tive design rules and allows to increase the bandwidth of the structure, whereas and are the refractive effective
MZS in a single stage. indexes of the two individual waveguides.
This paper reports the numerical results of the conventional If the two waveguides are identical, (2) can be simplified as
two-waveguide MZS and of the proposed three-waveguide
structure. The MZSs were analyzed by means of two different (3)
methods: the coupled-mode theory (CMT) and the finite dif-
ference beam propagation method (FD-BPM), whereas the From the solution of (1), the well-known transmission ma-
finite-element method (FEM) was applied to evaluate the trix formulation, which links the output, i.e., and
refractive index variation due to carrier injection in the p-i-n , and the input, i.e., and field am-
diode phase shifter. plitudes, can be derived as follows:

II. NUMERICAL MODELS

The two- and three-waveguide MZSs were analyzed using
both the CMT and the FD-BPM [15]–[18]. The two methods
provide equivalent information, but the first gives a rigorous
and analytical solution of the coupled wave problem, whereas
the latter allows us to take into account the electromagnetic
propagation in the actual waveguide. In this way, phenomena
such as radiation losses, influence of the optical mode confine-
ment, eventual presence of higher order modes, or occurrence
of strong coupling condition, which are neglected in the CMT,
can be considered.
A. CMT Formulation
The CMT allows us to analyze the coupling of energy
between individual waveguides [15], [16]. Considering a
two-waveguide coupler, the coupled-mode equations give the
variation of the field amplitudes in the two waveguides
and along the propagation direction z. In particular, if
the two waveguides are identical, the coupled-mode equations
can be expressed as follows:
(4)
where L is the coupler length.
The coupling length , necessary to achieve the com-
plete transfer of the optical signal between the two coupled
waveguides, can be calculated from (4)
(5)
In the case of three coupled waveguides, the CMT leads to
a slightly different formalism. In particular, considering three
identical waveguides, equally spaced by the gap g, the coupling
coefficients K between the central and each of the two outer
waveguides can be considered equal. Under this assumption, the
CMT equations become
(6)

(1)
where and are the field amplitudes of the two outer
waveguides and is the central one.
where K is the coupling coefficient given by the overlap inte-
Accordingly, the transfer matrix for the three coupled waveg-
gral of the fundamental modes of the two waveguides consid-
uides can be expressed as shown in (7) at the bottom of the page
ered as isolated [15]. Since the estimation of the overlap inte-
[14], where K is the coupling coefficient between each of the
gral can be sometimes nontrivial, an alternative way to calcu-
two coupled waveguides and L is the three-waveguide coupler
late the coupling coefficient K involves both the CMT approach
length.
and the so-called normal-mode approach, which analyzes the
The relation between the input and the output field amplitudes
overall structure made of the two waveguides and of the sur-
is
rounding medium [19]. According to this analysis, the coupling
coefficient K is given by
(8)
(2)

where and are the refractive effective indexes of the According to (7) and (8), the coupling length cor-
first two normal modes pertaining to the overall waveguiding responding to the total signal transfer between the two outer

(7)
946
waveguides, i.e., from to and vice versa, can be
calculated as
(9)
Therefore, the three-waveguide coupling length can be cal-
culated from the two-waveguide one as
(10)
An alternative way to calculate the three-waveguide coupling
length considers the effective refractive indexes of the first
three normal modes of the overall three-waveguide structure,
i.e., , and . In particular, the coupling length
between the two external waveguides can be calculated as [20]
(11)
B. FD-BPM Model
The simulation of the MZSs was performed also by the
FD-BPM which is suitable for the analysis of strongly guiding
structures [17], [18].
The propagation of the electromagnetic wave can be analyzed
by solving the wave equation:
(12)
where is the wavenumber in vacuum and n is the refractive
index of the medium.
Equation (12) can be solved by using a finite-difference
method in which the continuous space is discretized into a grid
defined in the computation region. In particular, a split-step
algorithm was used to optimize the computation and the trans-
parent boundary conditions were applied since they are highly
effective in absorbing the outgoing waves, leading to more
accurate results with less computation effort [17].
In order to simplify the complexity of the numerical model,
the 3-D structure was reduced to a 2-D one by the refractive
effective index method (REIM) [21], [22]. We verified that the
refractive effective index values calculated by the REIM agree
very well with the ones calculated by the 3-D FEM.
III. TWO-WAVEGUIDE MZS
The scheme of the two-waveguide MZS is shown in Fig. 1.
The switch is made of two coupled waveguide sections with an
interposed phase-shifting region. The length L of the two equal
coupler sections is suitably chosen to achieve a 50% power cou-
pling at the wavelength m, i.e., the 100% coupling
length is . The chosen waveguides, the cross sec-
tion of which is schematized in Fig. 1(b), are silicon ribs em-
bedded in SiO . The relevant geometrical and optical param-
eters, outlined in Fig. 1(b), are core thickness m,
rib thickness m, rib width m, sil-
icon and silicon dioxide refractive indexes and
, respectively, at the wavelength
m. The wavelength dispersion of the refractive index was also
taken into account in the simulations [23].
JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO. 7, APRIL 1, 2012
Fig. 1. (a) Scheme of the two-waveguide MZS. (b) Cross section of the cou-
plers. (c) Cross section of the phase-shifter waveguide.
The switching behavior can be simply described as follows.
In the OFF-state, being no phase shift applied, the input optical
signal at port 1 in Fig. 1(a) is collected at port 4. Conversely,
in the ON-state, a phase shift equal to at m is
induced in the phase-shifter region by plasma dispersion in the
p-i-n diode schematized in Fig. 1(c). This phase shift causes the
input optical signal to switch to port 3. This switching capability
is indeed affected by the wavelength dispersion of the refractive
indexes and, consequently, of the propagation constants.
A figure of merit that allows us to define the useful bandwidth
for the MZS is the crosstalk between the two waveguides which
can be calculated as the ratio between the transmittance values
and :
(13)
in the OFF-state, and
(14)
in the ON-state.
In addition, we evaluated the insertion loss IL as
(15)
in the OFF-state, and
(16)
in the ON-state.
A. OFF-State Analysis
Fig. 2 shows the transmittance spectra for the two waveguides
and (solid curves), calculated in the OFF-state by
the CMT for an arbitrarily chosen value of the gap
m between the two coupled waveguides. The coupling length
m was calculated by (5). These results are
compared with the ones (circles) obtained by the FD-BPM sim-
ulations. A good agreement is apparent.
To better analyze the spectral behavior of the MZS, we report
in Fig. 3 the crosstalk calculated according to (13) in the
OFF-state for different values of the gap g. In each of the ana-
lyzed cases, the overall length of the coupler was chosen
CALÒ et al.: BROADBAND MACH–ZEHNDER SWITCH FOR PHOTONIC NETWORKS ON CHIP 947

Fig. 2. Transmittance spectra for the two-waveguide MZS calculated in the

OFF-state by the CMT (solid curves) and by the FD-BPM (circles), for the gap Fig. 4. Insertion loss of the two-waveguide MZS calculated in the OFF-
value m and the coupler length m. state for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length : 1) solid
curve m, m; 2) dashed curve m,
m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
m; 4) solid curve and dots m, m. The
dash-dotted line marks the value of the insertion loss dB chosen as
a reference.

TABLE I
BANDWIDTH , BANDWIDTH AND COUPLING LENGTH
OF THE TWO-WAVEGUIDE MZS IN THE OFF STATE FOR DIFFERENT VALUES
OF THE GAP G

Fig. 3. Crosstalk of the two-waveguide MZS calculated in the OFF-state

TABLE II
for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length : 1) solid curve
BAND EDGES AND OF THE BANDWIDTH AND MAXIMUM
m, m; 2) dashed curve m,
INSERTION LOSS FOR THE TWO-WAVEGUIDE MZS IN THE OFF
m; 3) solid curve and triangles m, m; 4)
STATE FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE GAP G
solid curve and dots m, m. The dash-dotted line
marks the value of the cross talk dB chosen as a reference.

equal to the corresponding coupling length at the wave-

length m. In order to make Fig. 3 more readable,
the reported curves pertain only to the FD-BPM simulations,
nonetheless a very good agreement with the CMT results was
verified.
From Fig. 3, we can notice that, in the OFF-state, the band- corresponding to crosstalk values lower than dB together
width, defined as the wavelength range in which the is with the coupling lengths . In addition, Table I reports
lower than a given value , increases for smaller values of the bandwidth corresponding to insertion loss values
the gap g. The dash-dotted line in Fig. 3 marks the crosstalk lower than the reference one, dB. It is apparent that
dB which was chosen as a reference value [24] to the bandwidth of the two-waveguide MZS in the OFF-state is
take into account the switch spectral behavior both in the OFF- mainly limited by the crosstalk requirement.
and ON-state. Table II reports, for the different values of the gap g, the band
The evaluation of the MZS performance must also take into edges of the bandwidth, i.e., and , and
account the requirements for the IL. To this aim, we report in the maximum insertion loss calculated in the
Fig. 4 the insertion loss in the OFF-state evaluated by (15) bandwidth. In the OFF-state, the insertion loss is below
for different values of the gap. The dash-dotted line in Fig. 4 0.25 dB for all the considered gap values.
marks the reference value for the insertion loss. The chosen
value, equal to 1.1 dB, corresponds to the IL worst case cal- B. ON-State Analysis
culated for the two-waveguide MZS in the ON-state. Table I In the ON-state, the switching is achieved when the optical
reports, for the two-waveguide MZS, the bandwidth signal propagating in the phase shifter experiences a phase
948 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO. 7, APRIL 1, 2012

Fig. 5. Crosstalk of the two-waveguide MZS calculated in the ON-state Fig. 6. Insertion loss of the two-waveguide MZS calculated in the
for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length : 1) solid curve ON-state for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length :
m, m; 2) dashed curve m, 1) solid curve m, m; 2) dashed curve
m; 3) solid curve and triangles m, m; 4) m, m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
solid curve and dots m, m. The dash-dotted line m; 4) solid curve and dots m,
marks the value of the crosstalk dB chosen as a reference. m. The dash-dotted line marks the value of the insertion loss dB
chosen as a reference.

shift. In our simulations, we considered a phase shifter made of TABLE III

a p-i-n diode formed, as shown in Fig. 1(c), by the intrinsic Si BAND EDGES AND OF THE BANDWIDTH, MAXIMUM
CROSSTALK , AND MAXIMUM INSERTION LOSS FOR THE
waveguide core and by two highly doped regions with electron TWO-WAVEGUIDE MZS IN THE ON-STATE FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE
and holes concentrations equal to cm and GAP G
cm , respectively.
In order to evaluate the refractive effective index change and
the losses induced by the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect,
the dependence of the electron and hole distributions on the ap-
plied voltage was calculated using a 2-D drift-diffusion FEM
model [25]. The changes in the silicon refractive index and in
the absorption coefficient due to the applied voltage were cal-
culated using the well-known Soref–Bennett formulas [26]. The
average silicon refractive index change and the loss coefficient for the different values of the gap g. Conversely, the insertion
were calculated to be and loss in the bandwidth is higher in the ON-state
cm , respectively, for an applied voltage V. More- owing to the absorption in the phase shifter.
over, a power consumption of 2.6 mW and a switching time
ns were evaluated by means of FEM time-dependent
IV. THREE-WAVEGUIDE MZS
simulations. On the basis of the refractive effective index cal-
culation, the length of the phase shifter was assumed equal to A significant improvement in the MZS bandwidth can
m to achieve the required phase shift at the be achieved by means of the three waveguide configuration
wavelength m. schematized in Fig. 7. In this novel MZS configuration, the
The electromagnetic propagation in the MZS in the ON-state two coupling sections are made of three waveguides, the
was simulated by the FD-BPM code considering the average cross section of which is schematized in Fig. 7(b), and the
refractive index variation and the attenuation calculated by the phase-shifting region is placed in correspondence of the central
FEM model. The wavelength dispersion of the refractive index waveguide. In other words, a third waveguide is added in the
was taken into account also in the phase-shifting region. switch configuration shown in Fig. 1, so that the optical signal
The crosstalk in the ON-state, as a function of the is switched between the two external waveguides and
wavelength, is shown in Fig. 5 for different values of the gap , whereas the central one serves only to improve
g. The gap-dependent coupling lengths are the same as in the the switching mechanism.
OFF-state. In addition, Fig. 6 shows the in the ON-state In the proposed three-waveguide MZS configuration, the
for the analyzed values of the gap. two coupling sections were suitably designed to achieve a 50%
Table III reports, for the different values of the gap g and power coupling at the wavelength m. For this pur-
of the band edges and , the maximum crosstalk pose, the coupling length was evaluated by using both (10) and
and the maximum insertion loss calculated (11) and a complete agreement between the two expressions
in the bandwidth. We can infer that the MZS bandwidth was verified.
is mainly limited by the crosstalk in the OFF-state, whereas in Fig. 8 shows the transmittance spectra for the three MZS
the ON-state, the CT is lower than the reference value dB waveguides , and in the OFF-state calculated
CALÒ et al.: BROADBAND MACH–ZEHNDER SWITCH FOR PHOTONIC NETWORKS ON CHIP 949

Fig. 7. (a) Scheme of the three-waveguide MZS. (b) Cross section of the cou- Fig. 9. Crosstalk for the three waveguide MZS in the OFF-state calcu-
plers. lated for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length : 1) solid
curve m, m; 2) dashed curve m,
m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
m; 4) solid curve and dots m, m. The
dash-dotted line marks the value of the cross talk dB chosen as a
reference.

Fig. 8. Transmittance spectra for the three-waveguide MZS calculated in the

OFF-state by the CMT (solid curves) and by the FD-BPM (circles), for the gap
value m and the coupling length m.
Fig. 10. Insertion loss of the three-waveguide MZS calculated in the OFF-
state for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length : 1) solid
curve m, m; 2) dashed curve m,
m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
by the CMT (solid curves) and by the FD-BPM (circles) in the m; 4) solid curve and dots m, m. The
case of the gap value m and of the coupling length dash-dotted line marks the value of the insertion loss dB chosen as
m. Again a good agreement is apparent. a reference.
As we can see from Fig. 8, at the operating wavelength
m, the optical signal launched at the input port of
(i.e., port 1 in Fig. 7) is completely transferred at the output nm for the three-waveguide configuration and
port of (i.e., port 4). The and transmittance nm for the two-waveguide one.
spectra in Fig. 8 suggest a broader bandwidth operation with As a counterpart, the maximum insertion loss is increased
respect to the two-waveguide case since the undesired optical with respect to the two-waveguide case as it can be inferred from
signal at the output port 3 of is well below the desired Fig. 10, which shows the insertion loss in the OFF-state for
one collected at port 4 of . However, moving from the different values of the gap.
design wavelength, part of the optical signal tends to remain To better quantify the effect of the third waveguide, we re-
in the central waveguide , thus causing an increase of the port in Table IV the band edges of the bandwidth, i.e.,
insertion loss. and , and the maximum insertion loss
To better quantify these behaviors and, therefore, the device calculated in the bandwidth. Considering the limitation
performances, Fig. 9 shows the crosstalk , calculated ac- of the bandwidth, the IL is lower than 1.52 dB for all
cording to (13), in the OFF-state for different values of the gap g the considered gap values. This increase in the OFF-state inser-
between the three coupled waveguides. A significant increase in tion loss is indeed due to the optical signal that remains in the
the dB bandwidth is apparent when compared with Fig. 3. central waveguide. However, as shown in Fig. 10, the insertion
For example, in the case of m, the bandwidth is loss is minimum at the central wavelength m
950 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO. 7, APRIL 1, 2012

TABLE IV
BAND EDGES AND OF THE BANDWIDTH AND MAXIMUM
INSERTION LOSS FOR THE THREE-WAVEGUIDE MZS IN THE
OFF-STATE FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE GAP G

TABLE V
BANDWIDTH , BANDWIDTH , AND COUPLING LENGTH
OF THE THREE-WAVEGUIDE MZS FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE GAP G

Fig. 11. Crosstalk of the three-waveguide MZS calculated in the

ON-state for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length :
1) solid curve m, m; 2) dashed curve
m, m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
m; 4) solid curve and dots m,
m. The dash-dotted line marks the value of the cross talk dB
chosen as a reference.

and it increases at the band edges. Therefore, the insertion loss

can be reduced by narrowing the bandwidth useful for the op-
tical signal transmission.
As an example, in order to limit the insertion loss to the
maximum value dB (marked by the dash-dotted line
in Fig. 10), which is the worst-case IL calculated for the two-
waveguide MZS, the useful MZS bandwidth becomes
nm, in the case of three-waveguide MZS for gap value
m.
Table V reports, for the different values of the gap g,
the bandwidth for the three-waveguide MZS in the
OFF-state together with the coupling lengths neces-
sary to achieve the complete power transfer between the two
external waveguides in the three-waveguide configuration at
m. The bandwidth satisfying the more
restrictive requirement of dB is also reported in
Fig. 12. Insertion loss of the three-waveguide MZS calculated in the
Table V. ON-state for different values of the gap g and of the coupling length :
Comparing the data in Tables I and V, we can observe that, 1) solid curve m, m; 2) dashed curve
although the three-waveguide configuration causes a slight in- m, m; 3) solid curve and triangles m,
m; 4) solid curve and dots m, m. The
crease in the footprint of the MZS, the introduction of the third dash-dotted line marks the value of the insertion loss dB chosen as
waveguide strongly improves the MZS spectral behavior. a reference.
Now we consider the ON-state in which the switching is
achieved by applying a phase shift at the central waveguide
TABLE VI
. The considered p-i-n diode phase shifter is the same as BAND EDGES AND OF THE BANDWIDTH, MAXIMUM
in the two-waveguide MZS. CROSSTALK , AND MAXIMUM INSERTION LOSS FOR THE

Figs. 11 and 12 show the crosstalk and the insertion loss THREE-WAVEGUIDE MZS IN THE ON-STATE FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE
GAP G
, respectively, for the three-waveguide MZS in the ON-state
calculated for different values of the gap g and of the corre-
sponding coupling length .
In addition, referring to the bandwidth, the relevant
figures of merit for the three-waveguide MZS in the ON-state
are summarized in Table VI which reports, for the different
values of the gap g, the wavelength band edges of the
bandwidth, i.e., and , the maximum crosstalk
and the maximum insertion loss .
Considering Figs. 11 and 12 and Table VI, in the ON-state, the case since the crosstalk remains below dB in the whole
three-waveguide MZS behavior is similar to the two-waveguide considered wavelength range. The insertion loss reaches
CALÒ et al.: BROADBAND MACH–ZEHNDER SWITCH FOR PHOTONIC NETWORKS ON CHIP
the maximum value of 1.1 dB for the gap m at
m and decreases for the other considered gap values.
On the basis of the aforementioned results, we can say that the
three-waveguide MZS exhibits an almost doubled bandwidth
useful for WDM transmission on optical NoCs with respect to
the two-waveguide configuration. Moreover, the total power re-
quired for the switching mechanism remains unchanged. In fact,
the power consumption depends only on the phase-shifter oper-
ation which is the same for both the two- and three-waveguide
configurations. This behavior leads to an improvement of the
power efficiency in terms of energy per bit, owing to the in-
creased number of WDM channels that can be contemporarily
routed to parity of switching power [10]. As an example, con-
sidering a WDM channel spacing of 2 nm and an individual op-
tical channel data rate of 10 Gb/s, 30 channels can be allocated
in the 60-nm bandwidth of the two-waveguide MZS, whereas
57 channels can be allocated in the 115-nm bandwidth of the
three-waveguide one. Therefore, to parity of required power,
i.e., 2.6 mW as estimated by the FEM model, the corresponding
energy per bit for the two- and three-waveguide configurations
is 8.7 and 4.6 fJ/b, respectively.
Moreover, the proposed MZS configuration is equivalent to
the two-waveguide one in terms of waveguide sizes and of gap
between the coupled waveguides. Therefore, the fabrication
process for the two-waveguide MZS [10] could likely be
exploited also for the fabrication of the proposed three-wave-
guide switch. However, a slight increase in the footprint of the
device should be taken into account especially in the central
phase-shifting region. In fact, the two external waveguides
should be sufficiently far from the central one to locate the p-i-n
junction and the contact areas.
Since both the two- and three- waveguide MZSs exploit sub-
micrometer silicon waveguides, their sensitivity to fabrication
imperfections is mainly related to the variation of the cross-sec-
tional dimensions of the waveguides, due to the lithography and
etching processes [27]. By calculation, we verified that the vari-
ations of the etch depth, of the waveguide width, and of the ratio
between the gap g and the waveguide width w induce the same
wavelength shift of the transmittance spectra for both the two-
and three-waveguide devices, whereas the bandwidths remain
unaltered.
In particular, referring to the geometries in Figs. 1(b) and
7(b), a 1% variation of the waveguide width w induce a wave-
length shift of 0.6% in both MZS configuration, whereas the
same error in the core thickness causes a 1% wavelength
shift. Moreover, a 1% variation of the g-to-w ratio, to parity of
the sum , causes a 0.8% wavelength shift both in the two-
and three-waveguide configurations.
A further possible cause of detriment of the switch perfor-
mances due to the fabrication processes is related to undesired
phase errors in the phase-tuning section. This phenomenon can
cause an increase of the minimum crosstalk achievable and a
consequent slight reduction of the useful bandwidth . In
particular, we verified by calculation, that the three-waveguide
MZS is slightly less sensitive to the phase detuning induced by
fabrication imperfections. However, in both the configurations,
the phase errors can be compensated by applying a bias voltage
to the p-i-n diode to finely tune the MZS [10], [24].
951
V. CONCLUSION
A three-waveguide MZS was proposed for WDM applica-
tions in optical NoCs. The device exploits two coupling sec-
tions, each made of three-waveguide couplers, with an inter-
posed p-i-n diode phase-shifting region. The main advantage of
the proposed MZS lies on the extremely straightforward design
rules and the simple geometry, it being a single-stage MZS con-
figuration.
The spectral behavior of the three-waveguide MZS was an-
alyzed, by the CMT and by the FD-BPM, in terms of crosstalk
CT and of insertion loss IL both in the ON- and OFF-states.
Moreover, the results pertaining to the three-waveguide MZS
were compared with the ones of the conventional two-wave-
guide MZS.
The proposed MZS exhibits a larger bandwidth with respect
to the two-waveguide one. As an example, considering a max-
imum crosstalk value dB, the two-waveguide MZS
bandwidth is nm, whereas the three-waveguide
one is nm, for the gap value m.
The insertion loss in the two-waveguide MZS is mainly af-
fected by the losses induced by free carriers injected in the phase
shifter in the ON-state, whereas it is negligible in the OFF-state.
The maximum value of the insertion loss for the two-waveguide
MZS, in the bandwidth, was estimated to be 1.1 dB for
the gap value m.
Conversely, in the three-waveguide configuration, the pres-
ence of the central waveguide induces an additional loss due
to the optical signal not coupled to the desired output port.
Therefore, the three-waveguide configuration experiences a
maximum loss of 1.52 dB in the bandwidth in the
OFF-state, whereas the insertion loss IL remains below 1.1 dB
in the ON-state. Although acceptable, the insertion loss in the
OFF-state can be further reduced. As an example for . 30
m, a value of insertion loss less than 1.1 dB can be achieved
by slightly narrowing the useful bandwidth to
nm.
The aforesaid considerations are also valid for different
values of the gap and for different IL and CT constraints. More-
over, these design rules, proposed for a specific waveguiding
structure, are applicable to virtually any kind of waveguides.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank V. Passaro from the Dipar-
timento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica, Politecnico di Bari, for
the helpful discussion on the implementation of the FEM nu-
merical model for the evaluation of the free-carrier plasma dis-
persion effect.
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JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO. 7, APRIL 1, 2012
Giovanna Calò (S’03) was born in Bari, Italy, in 1976. She received the Dr.Eng.
degree in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetism from
the Politecnico di Bari, Bari, in 2002 and in 2006, respectively.
In 2002, she joined the Dipartimento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica, Politec-
nico di Bari, where she has worked on different research projects and is currently
the Principal Investigator in the Research Project PHOTONICA- Photonic Inter-
connect Technology for Chip Multiprocessing Architectures funded by Italian
government through Program FIRB 2008. Her research interests concern theo-
retical and technological research on integrated optic devices, nonlinear optics,
active optical devices, optical biosensors, and on-chip optical interconnections.
Dr. Calò is member of the Italian Society of Electromagnetics. She partici-
pates to COST action MP0805: “Novel Gain Materials and Devices Based on
III-V-N Compounds.”
Antonella D’Orazio (M’94) received the laurea degree in electrical engineering
(summa cum laude) from the University of Bari, Bari, Italy, in 1983, and the
Ph.D. degree in electromagnetism from Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione,
Italy, in 1987.
Since 1983, she joined the Integrated Optics Laboratory, Dipartimento
di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica—Politecnico di Bari (Technical Univer-
sity—Bari), initially as a Ph.D. student, then as Assistant Professor (1990). In
1998, she became an Associate Professor. She is currently a full Professor of
electromagnetic fields at Politecnico di Bari. She is member of the Managing
Committee of the National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommuni-
cations, Pisa, Italy. Since 1983, she has been involved in several national
and international projects and co-operations. Actually, she is involved in the
activities of the COST action MP0702 “Towards functional sub-wavelength
photonic structures” and of the COST action MP0805 “Novel gain materials
and devices based on III-V-N compounds.” She has co-authored more than 300
publications, 250 of which published in journals and international conferences,
lectures, and invited papers. She acts as a Reviewer of international journals
and she is member of technical committees of international and national
conferences. Her research interests include linear and nonlinear guided optic
propagation, modeling and numerical methods for the design of linear and
nonlinear integrated optic devices, fabrication and optical characterization
of devices made by Ti:LiNbO and ion-exchanged waveguides, modeling,
fabrication and characterization of photonic bandgap structures, metamaterials,
and plasmonic structures.
Dr. D’Orazio is a member of the Optical Society of America, the Italian
Federation of Electrical, Electronics, Automation, Information Technology and
Telecommunications, the Italian Society of Electromagnetics, and the Italian
Society of Optics and Photonics (Italian Branch of the European Optical So-
ciety).
Vincenzo Petruzzelli was born in Bari, Italy, in 1955, and received the Degree
in electrical engineering from the University of Bari, Bari, in 1986. He received
the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering (electromagnetism) from the Dipar-
timento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica, Politecnico di Bari, Bari, in 1992.
He is currently an Associate Professor of electromagnetic fields at the Diparti-
mento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica, Politecnico di Bari. He has more than 280
publications as a coauthor, 200 of which have been published in journals and in-
ternational conference proceedings, and the rest as lectures and invited papers.
He is involved in several national and international cooperative projects. His
current research interests include theoretical and technological work on optic
devices, passive and active photonic crystal waveguides, nonlinear optics, op-
tical fibers, modeling of optical waveguiding passive and active structures, and
theoretical and experimental analysis of biological effects on human cells ex-
posed to electromagnetic irradiation.
Dr. Petruzzelli is a member of the Management Committee appointed by the
Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research in the activities of the
MP0805 COST action “Novel Gain Materials and Devices Based on III-V-N
Compounds.”