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Polymers
Volume 17
Issue 23
10.3390/polym17233214
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Low Power Consumption Silica Thermo-Optic Switch Based on Polymer Cladding

by
Tianyu Zhong
1,
Jiale Qin
1,
Wenqian Liu
1,
Yuqi Xie
2,
Chahao An
1,
Yinxiang Qin
1 and
Yunji Yi
1,*
1
College of Integrated Circuits and Optoelectronic Chips, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China
2
College of New Materials and New Energies, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Polymers 2025, 17(23), 3214; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233214
Submission received: 5 November 2025 / Revised: 27 November 2025 / Accepted: 1 December 2025 / Published: 2 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Polymer Applications)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Silica-based splitters, couplers, and arrayed waveguide gratings are key components in optical communication. However, the high tuning power consumption of silica chips limits their development and application in fields such as Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers and Mode Division Multiplexing. In this work, we demonstrate a silica thermo-optic switch based on polymer cladding within a Mach–Zehnder Interferometer framework, in which a UV-curable polymer is employed as the upper cladding to enhance thermal efficiency. The device exhibits a power consumption of 48 mW, rise and fall response times were 215 µs and 271 µs, compared to all-silicon switches, the power consumption is reduced by 75%, and the switching speed is improved by nearly a factor of two, while maintaining a comparable insertion loss. Experimental results demonstrate an insertion loss of 8.53 dB and an extinction ratio of 10.12 dB.
Keywords: optical switch; heterogeneous hybrid integration; polymer cladding; photonic integrated chip optical switch; heterogeneous hybrid integration; polymer cladding; photonic integrated chip

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhong, T.; Qin, J.; Liu, W.; Xie, Y.; An, C.; Qin, Y.; Yi, Y. Low Power Consumption Silica Thermo-Optic Switch Based on Polymer Cladding. Polymers 2025, 17, 3214. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233214

AMA Style

Zhong T, Qin J, Liu W, Xie Y, An C, Qin Y, Yi Y. Low Power Consumption Silica Thermo-Optic Switch Based on Polymer Cladding. Polymers. 2025; 17(23):3214. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233214

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhong, Tianyu, Jiale Qin, Wenqian Liu, Yuqi Xie, Chahao An, Yinxiang Qin, and Yunji Yi. 2025. "Low Power Consumption Silica Thermo-Optic Switch Based on Polymer Cladding" Polymers 17, no. 23: 3214. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233214

APA Style

Zhong, T., Qin, J., Liu, W., Xie, Y., An, C., Qin, Y., & Yi, Y. (2025). Low Power Consumption Silica Thermo-Optic Switch Based on Polymer Cladding. Polymers, 17(23), 3214. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233214

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