Contra-directional switching enabled by Si-GST grating

We present the design, simulation, and experimental demonstration of a Si-GST grating assisted contra-directional coupler for optical switching. The effective refractive index of the GST-loaded silicon waveguide changes significantly when the GST is switched from the amorphous state to the crystalline state, allowing for large tuning of the propagation constant. The two coupled waveguides are designed to satisfy the phase-match condition only at the amorphous state to achieve Bragg reflection at the drop-port. Experimental results show that the device insertion loss is less than 5 dB and the extinction ratio is more than 15 dB with an operation bandwidth of 2.2 nm around the 1576 nm operating wavelength. Due to the nonvolatile property of GST, there is no static power consumption to maintain the two states. It is the first demonstration of a GST-enabled grating coupler that can be switched by phase change material.