32 × 32 silicon photonic MEMS switch with gap-adjustable directional couplers fabricated in commercial CMOS foundry

Abstract

We report on a 32 × 32 silicon photonic micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) switch with gap-adjustable directional couplers. The switch is fabricated on 200-mm silicon-on-insulator wafers in a commercial complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) foundry. The fabricated device has a maximum on-chip loss of 7.7 dB and an extinction ratio of 50.8 dB. The switching voltage is 9.45 V and the 20-dB bandwidth is 28.7 nm. Our work shows a promising path for mass production of silicon photonic MEMS switches in commercial CMOS foundries.