Efficient Thermal Tuning of Silicon Ring Resonators Based on Thermo-Optic Effect

Abstract:
Photonic components made of silicon have established themselves as filters, switches and sensors in a wide range of applications. The large thermo-optic coefficient of silicon enables thermal tuning not only to reconfigure the functional characteristics of the devices, but also to compensate for fabrication errors. We present efficient thermal tuning of amorphous silicon ring resonators with micro-heaters made of nichrome as heating elements and a copper layer to facilitate the electrical connection to printed circuit boards. The experiments demonstrate efficient tuning exceeding a free spectral range of 8.83 nm with approximately 45 mW/FSR tuning efficiency. The dynamic response of the heaters was also eval-uated by measuring the rise and fall times of 27 and 24 micrometers, respectively.