2/spl times/2 electrooptical switch in silicon-on-insulator waveguide

A 2/spl times/2 Mach-Zehnder interferometer electrooptical switch integrated in silicon-on-insulator using multimode interference 3-dB couplers as splitter and combiner has been proposed and fabricated. Free carriers plasma dispersion effect was utilized to realize light modulation in silicon. Switching operation was achieved at an injection current of 358 mA and which can be much reduced by optimizing the PIN structure and improving fabrication process. Extinction ratio of 7.7 dB and crosstalk of 4.8 dB has been observed.