Ultra-low loss compact active TM mode pass polarizer using phase change material in silicon waveguide

Abstract An active low-loss transverse magnetic (TM) pass polarizer, based on the phase change material (Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 ), is proposed. The proposed polarizer is based on silicon-on-insulator technology that consists of a silicon waveguide that incorporates a thin layer of Si 3 N 4 placed in-between GST. Enhancing the interaction between light and GST is achieved by strategically placing a double-layer GST adjacent to the slot waveguide. The polarizer’s tunability, on the other hand, depends on the shift in the refractive index (RI) of GST as it transitions between its crystalline and amorphous phases. By optimizing the structure, the polarizer exhibits negligible loss for both modes in the amorphous phase, and with the change of phase to crystalline, the loss of TE mode is more than 8 dB. In contrast, the loss of TM is less than 0.05 dB with a high ER of 21.82 dB, propagation length of 79.89 µ m and Figure of merit reaches up to 108 at 1550 nm. Due to the combination of these performance parameters, the suggested active TM pass polarizer is an appealing and effective device for various photonic applications. In addition, the fabrication technique of the proposed active TM pass polarizer is explained.