Font Size: 

We propose a novel design of tunable silicon-on-insulator waveguide integrated with a plasmonic nanoheater. Excited with 980nm polarized pump light, the metallic nanoheater is able to efficiently convert the optical power into localized thermal power and drastically raise the surrounding temperature. With pump intensity of 1 mW/μm², temperature of silicon waveguide can be raised by 252 K, corresponding to an increase of refractive index of silicon core by 0.056. Theoretically, a compact size Mach-Zehnder interferometer composed of our tunable SOI waveguide can achieve submicronsecond response time.

plasmonics; photothermal; silicon waveguide