Switching Time Tuning in MZI Switch Leveraging Thermal Crosstalk and Differential Control

This work examines the optimization of switching time through design modification and control optimization. We examined four control mechanisms on three designs with gaps between the heaters on top of the interferometric waveguide arms of 4 μm, 20 μm, and 40 μm, We observe that differential control outperforms conventional control in terms of switching time when the gap is small. Additionally, with the conventional control scheme, leveraging thermal crosstalk with a reduced gap can reduce switching time by 33% while increasing electrical supply by 30%.