Polymer waveguide thermooptic switch with low electric power consumption at 1.3 mu m

A polymer waveguide thermooptic 2*2 switch with low electric power consumption is demonstrated. The switch consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with Cr thin-film heaters. The waveguides are fabricated using acrylic polymers synthesized from deuterated methacrylate and deuterated fluoromethacrylate monomers. The total insertion loss of the switch is 0.6 dB at a wavelength of 1.3 mu m, including fiber coupling losses and waveguide losses. The switching power is as low as 4.8 mW, and the rise and fall times are both 9 ms.>