Nonvolatile silicon photonic MEMS switches enabled by van der Waals force.

ABSTRACT: The rapid development of artificial intelligence has catalyzed substantial progress in photonic information processing, which requires ultralow-power photonic switches for extensive circuit reconfiguration. Nonvolatile switches with zero static power are promising, but current phase change material approaches face challenges including unreliable durability, high switching energy, complicated fabrication, and compromised scalability. Here, we propose and demonstrate a nonvolatile silicon photonic microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch enabled by tailored stiction effect based on van der Waals (vdW) force. The device uses a unique split waveguide crossing (SWX) with a push-pull MEMS actuator to efficiently switch the mode propagation. The vdW force between two halves of the combined SWX

SUBMITTER: Hu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12487895 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature