Piezo-optomechanical cantilever modulators for VLSI visible photonics

• Main Authors: Dong, Mark (Author), Heim, David (Author), Witte, Alex (Author), Clark, Genevieve (Author), Leenheer, Andrew J (Author), Dominguez, Daniel (Author), Zimmermann, Matthew (Author), Wen, Y Henry (Author), Gilbert, Gerald (Author), Englund, Dirk (Author), Eichenfield, Matt (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing, 2022-07-25T17:23:58Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 <jats:p> Visible-wavelength very large-scale integration photonic circuits have a potential to play important roles in quantum information and sensing technologies. The realization of scalable, high-speed, and low-loss photonic mesh circuits depends on reliable and well-engineered visible photonic components. Here, we report a low-voltage optical phase shifter based on piezo-actuated mechanical cantilevers, fabricated on a CMOS compatible, 200 mm wafer-based visible photonics platform. We show linear phase and amplitude modulation with 6 V<jats:sub>π</jats:sub> cm in differential operation, −1.5 to −2 dB insertion loss, and up to 40 dB contrast in the 700-780 nm range. By adjusting selected cantilever parameters, we demonstrate a low-displacement and a high-displacement device, both exhibiting a nearly flat frequency response from DC to a peak mechanical resonance at 23 and 6.8 MHz respectively, which, through resonant enhancement of Q ∼ 40, further decreases the operating voltage down to 0.15 V<jats:sub>π</jats:sub> cm. </jats:p>