Modeling of a 2×2 electro-optic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer optical switch with s-bend arms

Abstract

In this paper, we present a 2×2 electro-optic switch based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with tapered (s-bend) interferometric arms. All structures have been designed with a channel profile of titanium indiffused lithium niobate waveguides. The crosstalk analysis of the switch suggests that the crosstalk levels become worse (-12dB) when both interferometric arms of the structure are tapered. We have optimized the structure in order to reduce the overall switch losses (≤ 0.5dB) and to achieve the best possible extinction ratio (≥ 20dB). © 2011 Photonics Society of Poland.