公开(公告)号：US20220197064A1

公开(公告)日：2022-06-23

申请号：US17396350

申请日：2021-08-06

Applicant: Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Janji Dong ,  Yanxian Wei ,  Hailong Zhou ,  Xinliang Zhang

IPC: G02F1/00 ,  G02F1/01 ,  G02F1/025

Abstract: The present invention belongs to the field of integrated optical waveguide modulation, and specifically, relates to an ultra-close-range metallic heater thermo-optic phase shifter, which includes: a substrate, and a metallic heater and an optical waveguide respectively arranged on the substrate; in which the metallic heater and the optical waveguide are arranged at a close distance, and the distance is less than 600 nm. The material of the metallic heater is titanium, titanium nitride, aluminum, gold, and/or a metal with a larger imaginary part of the refractive index. The present invention includes two solutions: side heating and top surface heating. In the side heating solution, the heater is placed close to a side of the waveguide in parallel, and heat is conducted to the optical waveguide through the substrate to achieve thermo-optic phase shift; while in the top surface heating solution, an auxiliary waveguide is placed on a side of the optical waveguide, and the heater is placed above the auxiliary waveguide; heat is conducted to the optical waveguide through a top silicon oxide layer to achieve thermo-optic phase shift. The present invention utilizes the principle of parity-time symmetry, greatly shortens the distance between the heaters and the waveguide, realizes low-loss and high-rate thermo- optic modulation. In addition, it is compatible with the CMOS process, and is a standard process.