AI 中文总结
该研究开发了一种零改动晶圆厂兼容的硅光子学MEMS光开关，在C波段消光比超30 dB、插入损耗小于1.5 dB，可与标准硅光子元件无缝配合，适用于高性能光互连场景。
AI 中文摘要
大规模光子开关正成为数据中心和AI/ML集群中节能光互连的关键器件，是实现高带宽低延迟连接的核心支撑。将基于微机电系统（MEMS）的机械可重构性与硅光子集成电路相结合，可构建大规模、低损耗、可编程的平台，满足大规模光电路开关的需求。我们展示了一种宽带硅光子学MEMS开关，采用零改动晶圆厂兼容工艺和后端（BEOL）后处理，在C波段工作时消光比超过30 dB。该光开关元件插入损耗小于1.5 dB，最大驱动电压下静态功耗约为20 nW。我们的结果表明，基于MEMS的硅光子学调制器和移相器可与标准硅光子学元件无缝配合，适用于对 footprint、消光比、宽带宽和低损耗操作性能至关重要的场景。
英文摘要
Large-scale photonic switches are emerging as essential devices for energy-efficient optical interconnect in data centers and AI/ML clusters as a key enabler for high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity. Combining micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) based mechanical reconfigurability with silicon photonic integrated circuits can enable a large-scale, low-loss, programmable platform required for large-scale optical circuit switches. We demonstrate a broadband silicon photonics MEMS switch with more than 30 dB extinction ratio operating in C-band using a zero-change foundry-compatible process and Back-end-of-Line (BEOL) post-processing. The optical switch element exhibits an insertion loss of less than 1.5 dB with a low static power consumption of approx 20 nW at maximum actuation voltage. Our results illustrate that MEMS-based silicon photonics modulators and phase shifters can be used alongside standard silicon photonics components seamlessly in scenarios where performance in terms of footprint, extinction ratio, broad bandwidth, and low-loss operation is of paramount importance.
