Optoelectromechanical phase shifter with low insertion loss and a 13π tuning range

We present an on-chip optoectromechanical phase shifter with low insertion loss and low half-wave voltage using a silicon nitride platform. The device is based on a slot waveguide in which the electrostatic displacement of mechanical structures results in a change of the effective refractive index. We achieve insertion loss below 0.5 dB at a wavelength of 1550 nm in a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with an extinction ratio of 31 dB. With a phase tuning length of 210 mu m, we demonstrate a half-wave voltage of V-pi = 2.0 V and a 2 pi phase shift at V-2 pi = 2.7 V. We measure phase shifts up to 13.3 pi at 17 V. Our devices can be operated in the MHz range and allow for the generation of sub-mu s pulses. (c) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

The on-chip optoectromechanical phase shifter presented here achieves low insertion loss and low half-wave voltage, with the ability to generate sub-microsecond pulses and operate in the MHz range.