Low-power, low-loss opto-electro-mechanical switches

Integrated photonics is becoming an established information processing and communication technology and its integration into established electronic circuits is now at the for front of current research. Especially, electro-optical devices that provide the gateway between electronics and photonics are of upmost importance. These devices are used to encode electrical bit streams upon an optical carrier for communications at sub-nanosecond time scales. Alternative, slower (millisecond to microsecond) “switches” are used to route light or fine tune the operating point of photonic devices. However, these slow switches utilize high currents, that flow through nanoscale wires, to generate heat and thus change the path of light. And like old-school light bulbs this process is not scalable due to its immense power consumption. In this thesis, we will innovate novel opto-electro-mechanical switches, which consume orders of magnitude less power, thus enabling a new level of integration between electronics and photonics ranging from life-science to optical communication and quantum computing. Exploring this research will teach many aspects a photonic researcher/engineer will need: ranging from the theoretical background to nanotechnological fabrication to design and experimental characterization of integrated photonic devices and circuits.