Programmable Integrated Photonics via Phase-Change Materials

Programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs)1 composed of arrays of tunable phase shifters and beam splitters are expanding their application from traditional optical communications to optical signal processing, computing and even quantum information processing. However, traditional tuning methods, such as thermo-optic and electro-optic effects, are weak, power hungry and volatile. The resulting devices usually feature a large footprint (greater than 100 µm) and require a constant power supply of around 10 mW. This significantly limits the integration density and energy efficiency of the PIC.