Abstract

We present a Mach–Zehnder-based optical switch with novel electrooptic shift-and-dump phase shifters that have no residual amplitude modulation. As a result, the switch can have a very high extinction ratio with no overhead in power dissipation or insertion loss compared to standard electrooptic Mach–Zehnder switches. We fabricate the switch in an all-digital silicon photonic platform that monolithically integrates the actuation and control electronics together with the photonics. The switch demonstrates an extinction ratio $>33\mathrm{dB}$, insertion loss $<1.2\mathrm{dB}$, and nanosecond-scale transients.

© 2019 Optical Society of America

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