A Reconfigurable Multimode Demultiplexer/Switch for Mode-Multiplexed Silicon Photonics Interconnects

We experimentally demonstrate a scalable and broadband reconfigurable multimode demultiplexer/switch (RMDS) for mode-division multiplexed inter- and intra-chip data communication systems. The RMDS exploits a thermo-optically tuned tapered multimode interference coupler, enabling simultaneous transmission of the fundamental and first order quasi transverse electric modes in C-band. It is used as the building block in a mode demultiplexer with -20 dB crosstalk, which can be reconfigured as a mode selecting switch with 10.9 μs switching time. An aggregated bandwidth of 2 × 10 Gb/s is achieved by the parallel transmission of two nonreturn-to-Zero (NRZ) PRBS31 data signals at 10^-12 bit-error-rate with 2.8 dB BER power penalty. A 1.55 pJ/bit energy efficiency is estimated for a proposed multimode optical link.